The Denver Edition
by poe1911
Summary: Ruthie is trying to get settled in as Denver's version of Gary Hobson. But having a life while getting the paper is a lot harder than it appears.
1. An Imitation of Life

A/N This is a contiuation of my story 'The Legacy'. It takes place about 5 months after the previous story ended. I enjoyed the first season of 'Early Edition' mainly because I was fascinated by the idea of trying to live your life when you knew what would happen the next day. How do you maintain your sanity under those kind of conditions? I thought it would be an interesting area to explore once again. Anything you recognize is either from Early Edition or 7th Heaven or Doogie Howser. I don't own the rights to any of the shows, I'm just borrowing them for a bit. (If I did own EE, you can darn well be sure it would be out on DVD by now). All of the rights belong to a horde of corporate suits and lawyers and other evil types. I'm not making any money off of this, just having a bit of fun. I hope you enjoy my little tale.

POE1911

ARE YOU READY FOR THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE?

THE DENVER EDITION – PROLOGUE

Jaded, that's what people called him. World weary, emotionally wrung out, tired; maybe that was the best word, he was tired. Not physically, he hadn't had to pull ungodly hours for quite some time, no it was spiritual exhaustion. In the depths of his soul he was just so tired. He was twenty six years old, but he felt like he had seen it all, and most of what he had seen from the human race wasn't encouraging. He had gotten into this line of work because he thought it would be a challenge, something to push him to make him exceed his limits. Now all it did was push his tolerance of bureaucratic nonsense. He spent more time now shuffling paperwork than he did actually helping people. Sure, some of that comes with seniority, but dammit, he was supposed to be here to make people well, not be sure that every insurance claim was filled out in triplicate and filed with every bean counter this side of the Mississippi River. He missed the simplicity of when he first started out; everything was black and white then, the shades of grey were few and far between. He was fourteen and a child prodigy, being a doctor was all he had wanted to do with his life, they had saved him when he was a child, now it was up to him to save others. He had started out just learning what it meant to be a doctor, and he learned quickly. He tore through his residency and moved on, writing articles and winning awards. Then one day, he just wasn't sure when, it had stopped being important. Suddenly, he needed more, but the problem was he wasn't sure exactly what it was he needed. Unfortunately being a doctor was all he knew, it was what he was, and now it wasn't enough. He had been wallowing in depression for months now. He really didn't have any friends he could tell, and his parents (especially his dad) would go ballistic if he even started talking about what was going on between his ears; so he just wrestled with it, night after night he wrestled with his demon. 'What now', that's a heck of a name for a demon, but it was what was torturing his mind. He felt like there was something else he should be doing, but being a doctor was all he had ever wanted to be, being something else was uncharted territory, and he didn't know how to explore it. He was saved from his current melancholy spiral by the duty nurse.

"Doctor, there's a patient in treatment room four, she's starting to get a bit impatient; I thought if you had a few moments free you could see her and get her moving."

"Thanks Gracie" the not quite young man said to the nurse. He headed for treatment room four, glancing at the chart in his hands on the way. He eased into the room, trying to be quiet, and was floored by what he saw. A young woman, very attractive and clad in a sports bra and some skin tight pants, with laughing eyes and a mop of brown curls; she was currently stretching, like you would before exercise, he didn't know if it was yoga or some sort of isometrics, but it looked very nice. Shaking his head to clear it, his professional manner dropped over him like a shroud "let me see your ankle" he said, before she even knew he was there.

"Now is that a romantic come on or what" the girl muttered; then looking at the doctor with a smile "shouldn't you at least offer to buy me a drink first there Skippy."

The doctor just froze for a second, and the girl giggled at his discomfort. Clearing his throat and looking only at the chart he said "how did you hurt your ankle Miss Camden"?

"Please don't call me that" the girl said, a smile still lighting her face "Miss Camden sounds like a name for some spinster school marm, Ruth or Ruthie will do just fine Skippy. And to answer your question, I tripped over a train track."

"What were you doing around train tracks Ruthie?"

FLAASHBACK

'What kind of parent lets their kids play in a train yard, especially one that's still in use'. She glanced down at the paper in her hand "two children killed in train yard" was still there. Now all she had to do was find the little yard apes. She stopped and listened, nothing dang it, where were they? The paper said they were gonna get hit, but where she was was a storage area, not an active section of the yard, she needed to be where things were moving. Over there, a switch engine was putting a freight load together. Ruthie hurried in the direction of the moving stock when when saw the two kids. This was gonna be tight. She sprinted towards the two boys, they were laying pennies on the tracks, oblivious to all else. She saw the switch near them shift, and she knew a train was being aimed right at where they were. She tried yelling, but between their total concentration and the sound of the trains, there was no way that they would hear her. She was nearly there when she felt a flair of agony in her ankle. She ignored it for now, intent on getting to the kids in time. She flung herself at the two, knocking them to the ground and out of the way of the train that was being formed. One got up and ran off without a backwards glance; the other took a second to say "thanks lady" and then followed his friend. Ruthie barely noticed that her two saves had run off because her ankle was really starting to throb. She was pretty sure it wasn't broken, but she figured that getting it checked out was a good idea. Anyway, she was done with the paper for the day.

END FLASHBACK

So she had ended up at Denver Memorial, and waited for two hours before anyone bothered to look at her. This didn't improve her mood at all. But now she was face to face with a cute doctor. He looked sour, like a cat that had just eaten a sour mouse. Ruthie decided the guy needed to loosen up a bit, so she figured she would take his brain out for a bit of a spin.

"I like to run at the train yards, unfortunately so do dogs on occasion. I guess they decided I looked pretty tasty so they chased me. So what do you think doc, do I look tasty to you?" She asked this as she settled onto the exam table, putting a bit more wriggle into it than it deserved.

For his part the doctor turned 8 shades of red and stammered pretty badly when he finally tried to talk. "Uhhmmm lets just look at your ankle, OK?"

"Sure, you're the doc Doc" Ruthie replied while ruffling her eyelashes at him. She could not believe how outrageously she was flirting, but she was determined to hoist this guy out of the rut he was in, so she figured that a bit of outrageousness was called for. She stretched out her left leg and put it in his hands. Ruthie didn't think the guy could get any more red, yet somehow he did.

After a bit of stammering and a couple of false starts, his professionalism kicked in and he started probing her ankle and asking her to flex it one way, then another.

"How bad is it" she asked when he was done.

"Nice ankle, bad sprain" he replied. You'll be a hundred percent in a week just wrap it well and put some ice on it if it gets too bad." He was breathing easier and his face was almost back to its normal color.

"Will you make a house call if it's not all better" she asked in a kind of breathy-bimbo voice.

His color immediately came back up and he tried to stammer through an explanation of hospital policy when her laughter cut him off.

"Lighten up Doc; you're making this too easy. You really should get out more. Seriously, when's the last time you had fun just for the sake of having fun?"

The question hung in the air, and with each passing second the doctor became more and more embarrassed because the simple fact was that he couldn't remember the last time he had just said 'the heck with it' and went out just to have fun. He ducked his head, unable to even look at the girl now.

"Tell ya what Skippy, whenever you decide to get that king sized stick out of your caboose, give me a call" she handed him her business card. "Thanks for taking care of my ankle" she said as she hobbled towards the door.

"Why" he asked as she eased past him.

She knew what he was asking; she didn't need him to clarify the question "because you are the tiredest man I've ever seen. You remind me of my grandfather when he recalls his time in combat. I just can't stand around and see a soul in that much pain and not do anything about it if I can. So I did what I could to lift you up out of whatever has you down, even if it is only for a little while." She turned to look at him, and he was surprised at the look of sorrow on her face. "Seriously, if you want to call that would be great, but if you just chuck that card, I understand. It's not easy having some stranger jump into the middle of your life, so no hard feelings if I never hear from you again." She looked down at her leg "thanks again doctor. . . . ."

"Howser" he answered "Doug Howser."

"Thanks for the assist Doug, have a better day" and with that, she left.

He just sat there by the exam table when she left, he felt as though he had been dealing with a force of nature, and not a human being. The card in his hand was the only thing that convinced him that he hadn't hallucinated the entire incident; 'Camden Gallery' it said, and there was a phone number as well as an address. Maybe he would give her a call at that, she certainly wouldn't expect it. He came close to laughing at the absurdity of the situation; arguing with himself about calling an attractive girl that had asked him to do so. He shook his head, he couldn't quite manage it, 'at least not yet' he added to the thought. He put the card in his pocket and picked up her chart and went back to work. For some reason he felt better than he had in weeks.


	2. Rocky Mountain Way

THE DENVER EDITION – CHAPTER 1

Ruthie hobbled into the gallery the next morning hoping that she could get to her desk and sit down without being seen, but no such luck. "What the heck happened to you" she heard from the back. It was Jennifer, her friend and gallery co-owner, Marissa to her Gary. Although it felt a little weird comparing Jennifer to Marissa since Jennifer was pale, blonde and loud; three things that Marissa wasn't. Jennifer Green or Nifer to her friends had been a ski bum for a few years until her left leg had argued with the side of a mountain. The result wasn't pretty; in fact her shin had been so badly damaged that a few inches of leg had to be removed because the bone was too badly shattered to support it. Ruthie had met her when she had saved the woman from being mugged. Jennifer hadn't bought the usual excuses and had actually followed Ruthie the next day. She had confronted Ruthie that night and basically refused to take no for an answer when she had asked to help the younger woman out. So now Jennifer watched the Gallery and manned the phones so Ruthie could do whatever she needed to do. It was an arrangement that suited them both very well. The only problem was that Jennifer tended to be very protective of her young friend, and wasn't shy about telling the girl off if Jennifer felt she was acting rashly. That made for some epic tongue lashings, but Ruthie just smiled and took it, knowing that was how her friend expressed her concern.

"I tripped over some tracks in the train yard" she replied.

"Did everything else go alright?"

"Yeah, I even met a cute doctor afterwards."

"Really, how cute?"

"About five nine with sandy brown hair, medium to light build, he would have been a lot cuter but he just looked whipped; if he was a country song his dog would have just died, his girl left him and his truck would have four flats."

"That bad huh" Jennifer chuckled"so did you screw with his head a bit."

"I don't have any idea what you mean" Ruthie replied with a grin.

"I know you kiddo; you probably came on like a hooker at a millionaire's convention, just to get a response."

Ruthie's blush was answer enough "well, maybe I was a bit forward, but he so needed it."

"Did you give him your card" Jennifer asked.

Ruthie's blush deepened "yeah, I did."

Jennifer's mental eyebrows went up at that, she knew her friend flirted like the devil at times, just to get guys out of whatever funk they were in, but to the best of her knowledge, Ruthie had never gone beyond flirting, at least until now. "Why"

"I don't know, it just seemed the right thing to do."

"Fair enough, but if 'Prince Charming' drops by or calls, he is getting the third degree, get me?"

"Yes Mom" Ruthie said with a grin.

"Now before you get comfortable, the Post called and they want you down there to OK the layout."

Ruthie groaned "can't they just fax or e-mail a sample over?"

"Nope, they said they need you there, so you'd best get going unless you've got a busy day" she asked this nodding at the paper in Ruthie's hand.

"Light today, two phone saves and one hands on, and it's not till later this afternoon, I've got time to go over there now."

"Well then get going, and be careful kiddo."

"I will Nifer, see you later."

Ruthie went back out of thegallery and got into her SUV, her graduation present from the McGinty's gang; and headed for the Denver Post. She had been in town a month when she had actually been approached by the features editor and asked to basically do the same thing in Denver that she had done in Chicago. Working under Simon's principle that income was never a bad thing, she had agreed and was soon providing two to three sketches a week for the paper. Her only problem with the whole set up was that they seemed to think she was temperamental or something, so they made sure that she had final approval and oversight when any of her work went into the paper. She had tried to tell them on several occasions that she trusted their judgment, but it hadn't seemed to work, they still called her down so she could look at the proofs. She hobbled into the lobby, and walked right past the security check, all the guards knew her anyway; and made her way to the second floor. She soon found the proofs on the editor's desk; it would have been nicer if the man had actually been there himself. The layout looked fine; Ruthie debated on just leaving a note to that effect or waiting for the editor to return so she could say it to his face, when she had an idea. She noticed that the guy's terminal was still on, so she searched the paper's database for information on 'Doug Howser'. She found quite a few articles, mostly where he was listed as the 'physician of record' in an obit or commenting on some wreck or disaster, but there were some that talked about his community service, and the things he had done for people around him. But these kind of articles stopped a bit over a year ago, and nothing since then.

Something had happened, she realized, something bad that had somehow managed to leach all the life out of him. There was no mention in the paper's files of anything during that time frame, so it must have happened somewhere other than Denver. Ruthie stopped for a second, what was she really thinking about. She was mucking about in some stranger's personal life, how was what she was doing different from what Janet had done to her?

Realizing that it wasn't, she deleted all of the articles. If she and the doctor ever got together (unlikely); she would have to trust him to tell her about what had happened in his past. And if they had some sort of serious relationship (very unlikely), she would have to wait until he decided he needed help for her to help him deal with it. She stopped herself right there, why was she even thinking about Doug and a relationship. True she hadn't exactly been romance girl since her sophomore year of college but her life was going quite well thank you; so why was she all the sudden thinking relationship with a guy she had just met. A guy who acted like he needed a relationship about as much as a fish needed a bicycle. She looked around in annoyance, the editor still wasn't there; reflexively she checked the paper and realized that this would be a great time for her two phone saves. Without even thinking about it, she picked up the editor's phone and dialed out.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"What ya mean my sign's about to fall off?"

I was walking by there and saw the chain was all rusted and looking like it was about to bust. I was in a hurry so I didn't stop then, but I figured I'd call and tell you. After all, you don't want it to hit someone so you get sued do you?"

"What are you, a lawyer or something?"

"Something like that" Ruthie replied.

"Well you ain't getting any money out of me, you damned blood sucker."

"Well I hope you're right" Ruthie said "but if someone gets hurt, and I can swear that you were warned, well you can imagine how that would look to a jury."

"Friggin' lawyers, they ought ta hang the lot of ya; you know that?"

"I've heard that once or twice before" she gave a theatrical sigh "I just hope your sign is OK on a windy day like this." She winced as the phone was slammed in her ear. She looked at the paper and saw that the story had changed. She smiled to herself, phone saves were the best in her opinion. Well on to number two.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Doctor Woodward, pick up line two" the voice said over the intercom at Denver Memorial Hospital.

"Yes" a harried voice picked up the phone "this is Doctor Woodward, you better speak fast, I need to be in the OR soon."

"No problem Doctor, I was just calling to make sure you kept a good count of your instruments today, I know dealing with a new grandson can be a bit of a distraction."

"I'm sorry, but who is this and how did you know I've got a new grandson?"

"Oh, I'm a friend of Doctor Howser's, he mentioned the grandson, and my brother is a doctor and he told me a story once about a doctor that was getting ready to meet his grandchild for the first time and actually left his watch in the patient. So I thought you might need to be reminded, or warned, however you want to look at it."

"Very well, consider me warned, now what is your name young lady?"

"Darn, is that the time. Sorry Doctor, I've got to go, and shouldn't you be prepping right now." And with that she hung up the phone.

The doctor cast a rather jaundiced glance at the phone, then hung it up and went to scrub.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Back at the Denver Post, Ruthie saw the second story change. Now all she had to deal with was a house fire and she would be done for the day. She had gotten sick of waiting for Mike the editor and was getting up from his desk when he walked in. Initially he looked upset that someone had been at his desk, but when he saw who it was he actually turned pale, like he was afraid of Ruthie. He took a second to gather his wits and said "sorry I wasn't here when you got here Ruth; how are you today?"

"Not bad Mike, the layout and proofs look fine."

"That's a relief, you're sure."

"Yeah great, was there anything else?"

"Actually yeah there is, would you want a full time job. Working here in features, you'd be fairly autonomous, but you would be exclusive to the paper."

Ruthie realized that the last bit was what was really important. "Nah, the current set up is good for me, but if you're concerned we could adjust my contract so that I can't do any work for any other publication without the paper's say so."

"You'd agree to that" Mike asked, relief evident in his voice.

"Sure, I'll still do private contracts, but no published work without approval."

"Thanks Ruth, the Muckity-Mucks were worried you'd go somewhere else, and with that loose excuseof a contract, it wouldn't be too hard for you to get away from here or to do something else if you wanted."

"Well, I do like the flexibility, but I don't mind being tied to you all; just have them draw it up with a renewal every two years and we should be golden."

"Whatever you say Ruth, I'll give you a call when we need something else."

"Great, see ya around Mike." And with that, she limped out of his office and out of the paper.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie went back to her place for lunch, and to ice her ankle before she would have to use it during the fire save. She was met at the door by Quark. That's what she had named the dog that came with the paper. She knew that Cat had been pretty much a come and go as he pleased type of critter, but Quark just seemed content to hang out in her apartment and rack out in whatever sun-beam presented itself. She called the dog Quark for two reasons. One was that his face; with all the whiskers and brows, reminded her of the character from Star Trek DS9;which had been one of her favorite shows growing up. And because on the few times he got excited, the dog bounced around like his namesake particle. So Quark it was, and for an animal, mystical in origin or not, he was pretty low maintenance.

She got out his leash and the two of them went out into the Denver mid-day. After a leisurely stroll down to a park, Ruthie and Quark headed back to her apartment building. While she had been walking, her thoughts had turned to the doctor yet again. Ruthie had come up with some ways for snapping the guy out of his funk, the problem was she didn't know how flexible he was. Best to start slowly she thought, maybe bowling or the planetarium; something less threatening than a Goth bar or Karaoke. The one thing that surprised her about the whole situation was her certainty that he'd take her up on her offer. She had no idea why she was so sure, but she was.

Before she entered her building, she stood back and just looked at it, this was actually something she did quite often. If she could have designed the perfect place for her to stay, this would have been it. A modest eight story brownstone that was shaped like a U so that there was a central court yard; it had been built back in the twenties. It was near to the heart of downtown, but not right there. In other words, it was close enough to everything without being engulfed by all the high-rises and office towers. Ruthie lived in the studio apartment on the top floor. She had thought long and hard about turning part of the gallery into an apartment for herself, but ultimately had rejected the idea. She was trying to create a life for herself separate from the paper, or at least adjacent to it, so she had a place separate from her jobs, a place where she could rest and charge her batteries.

She took her eyes from her building and headed on up to her place, sharing the elevator with Mrs. McGowan, a widow who lived on the fifth floor. When she got to her apartment she turned Quark loose and checked her answering machine; alas no messages. She checked the paper to see if anything had changed about the fire or if any new headlines had cropped up. A quick scan showed her that nothing had changed and there wee no new stories for her to deal with. Steeling herself, she walked out of her place and headed down the stairs. She hoped this save would go smoothly, she didn't know if she could handle five dead kids on her conscience.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It didn't look like a bad place, just a random house in the 'burbs where a single mom was running a day care out of her home. For whatever reason, in about five minutes, the day care lady would be distracted just as one of the kids in her care was discovering the joys of matches. The lady (her name was Sheila Barrett) would try to get the fire out and when that didn't work she would try to get the kids out. But by then it would be too late and they would all succumb to the smoke. Sheila and a couple of the kids would be saved by the firemen, but five would die. Well, unless Supergirl could do anything about it Ruthie thought.

She checked the paper again and walked up to the front door and knocked. A young girl of about 5 cracked open the door and peaked out, Ruthie fell in love with her sky blue eyes and crouched down. "Hello there" she said to the kindergartener.

"Who are you" the girl asked.

"My name is Ruth and I work for the city; I need to speak to Ms. Barrett right away please."

The girl continued to stare at Ruthie for a moment or two, then she ran back into the house yelling for 'Ms. Shiela' the entire way.

Ruthie stood up and waited, and in about a minute she was face to face with a rather harried looking woman. "Can I help you" the woman asked.

Ruthie flipped out an ID "my name is Anne Sexton and I'm an inspector for the city". The ID looked real enough, although it was in fact a fake. Ruthie had found out early on that if you had the right ID, the job of saving people got a lot easier. She had been checking out a band that one of the Gallery patrons had recommended when she heard a deal going down behind her. Whoever it was was selling forged documents. As soon as his clients had left, she turned around and met Anatoly. He was a former KGB agent that had emigrated about ten years ago. He had made fake documents for his country, and now he used that skill to supplement his income. Ruthie had requested three city ID's; ones that identified her as an inspector. Ruthie had found that people were less likely to question someone if possible reprisals could come from the person being questioned. So now she could be 'Anne Sexton' with the Human Services department; 'Kate McKellar' with the department of Water and Power; or 'Eve Grace' with the department of Education. These three ID's could get her practically anywhere she needed to be, and the names were indeed names of former employees of these departments, so that reduced the likelihood of a hassle.

"Is there a problem" Sheila asked.

"No ma'am" Ruthie answered "we sometimes do drop in inspections just to keep on top of things; today you just happened to draw the short straw today; could I come in please and meet the children?"

"Certainly" Ms. Barrett said, but with a note of trepidation in her voice. Ruth stood there in the entrance hall, stealing glances at the paper while she was alone. Suddenly she heard an outburst from another room "Ronnie Grogan, what do you think you're doing. Do you want me to tell your mother what I found you with? I had better not ever catch you with these things again, are we clear?"

Ruthie couldn't hear what the boy said, only his wailing at the prospect of his mother being told. Sheila came back herding the kids and explaining that she had caught one of her charges playing with matches.

Ruthie said she understood, and thought that Ms. Barrett had handled it properly. She then crouched down and asked the kids a few perfunctory questions, just to make it look good, and stood back up. "Well everything seems to be fine here Ms. Barrett, you have a good day." With that she was out the door and done for the day.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

She had headed to her place to let Quark out agian, and then she was on to the Gallery; she had to fill Nifer in on what had happened that day and take care ofwhatever paperwork that she had to handle. Then she spent some quiet time just talking to her friend. It was her favorite part of the day, just kicking back with her bud and solving the world's problems.

"I'm heading out to dinner" Nif said "you wanna come or want me to bring you anything?"

"Nah" Ruthie replied "I wanted to do some work tonight, so I'll just hang here. You know me, I like the quiet."

"You mean you just like playing loud music without having to listen to me complain."

"Well, that too" she said with a laugh "see ya tomorrow Nifer."

"See ya Ruthie, do good work tonight."

"Just my best" the girl answered as the door closed. Ruthie went to the back of the gallery where she had a studio set up. Needless to say it had the obligatory sound system and the ever eclectic music collection that Ruthie required to do her best work. She was working on the sunset in a painting, so she put on some Billie Holiday and changed into her usual jeans and a concert T-shirt. She had been working about half an hour when she heard the bell over the door jingle, indicating that someone had entered the Gallery. It was unusual to have someone come in this late in the day.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He had been pacing on the sidewalk in front of the address for ten minutes. He wanted to just walk in and take her up on her invitation to do something together; it had been quite a while since he had been on a date. But he was afraid. Of what he wasn't quite sure; maybe it was simply fear of being rejected, or perhaps it was a fear that his judgment was off. Reasons aside, he was afraid, and that was why he was pacing, arguing with himself as to whether or not he should take the chance and just open the door. Suddenly, without conscious thought, he found himself walking through the door, much to his horror. He was thinking about doing a quick turnaround when the bell attached to the door gave a little jingle. "I'll be right with ya" a voice from the back of the Gallery called out and he cringed, glaring at the bell in betrayal. Whoever it was wasn't in a hurry apparently so he was idly looking at the paintings in the gallery when she appeared. She was dressed in paint spattered jeans and a black T-shirt promoting someone or something called 'Green Day'; her curls were an unruly brown mop on her head and just like before he thought she was simply beautiful.

For a second he thought her face brightened in recognition, but he put that thought down as wishful thinking "hey Doc didn't expect to see ya so soon."

"Well I thought about what you said and decided that there's no time like the present. That and I wanted to make sure the ankle's OK."

A playful grin appeared "why doctor, making house calls despite hospital policy, my you are a rebel."

He blushed just a little and said "mostly I just wanted to see you again." As soon as it was out of his mouth he was screaming at himself for being so blunt, so obvious, so stupid as to even think she would be flattered. However, for some reason she did look flattered; she might even be blushing; was that possible?

"Thanks Doug, the ankle is fine and I'm glad you wanted to see me again. I've got about five minutes of clean up to do in the back; you can come on back if you want or just wait out here, your call."

"I'll come on back if I won't be in the way."

"You won't, and it'll give me someone to talk to."

He watched as she put the closed sign up and locked the front door, then followed her to the back, he wasn't prepared for what he saw. Paintings, dozens of paintings, some abstract, some modern, some in a very classical style; but they all had one commonality, they were brilliant. "These yours" he asked.

"Of course" she answered in what he thought of as a 'Duh' voice. Then he made the connection "you're **the** Ruth Camden".

"Well I'm a Ruth Camden" she answered with an impish grin "we're not as common as John Smith's but there are a couple of us out there. If you're asking if I'm Ruth Camden the noted artist, then the answer is yes, I am."

"I read an article on you a couple of month's ago in 'People' they called you the 'pixie Picasso' or something like that."

Ruthie's shoulders hunched a bit "that's exactly what they called me, and I came close to going postal when I read it."

"Why, I mean it is a bit cutesy, but I've heard worse."

"It makes me sound, I don't know, I guess pretentious is the word; like I'm full of myself or something. I want people to see me as just a person, not as some damn buzzword that allows them to put me in some category in their heads."

"I can relate" Doug said with complete sincerity. Looking to change the subject he asked "so what are you wanting to do tonight?"

"I was thinking the Planetarium."

"Really" he asked a bit surprised "and you called me a rebel."

Her head jerked up at that, she hadn't expected to be teased, or the warm smile that was on Doug's face. Smiling back, she just stuck her tongue out at her date, rinsed her hands in the sink and together they headed out into the Denver night.


	3. Friends Old and New

THE DENVER EDITION – CHAPTER 2

Her alarm, and Quark's barking pulled Ruthie out of a really pleasant dream. The girl couldn't help but smile when she thought about the events of last night. She and Doug had goon to 'Music Under the Stars' at the planetarium. It was where they projected the sky and ran a twelve hour cycle in two hours. While they were doing that they played classic rock over the PA. Usually Pink Floyd or Moody Blues or some of the more ethereal groups from the sixty's and early seventies. Occasionally they'd throw some Zepplin or Stones into the mix, just to keep you guessing. Ruthie loved it, and came to this kind of thing often. She didn't know how much Doug had appreciated it because he really didn't have any strong feelings about music.

This revelation had shocked Ruthie to the core. Music was a huge part of her life and her art; she couldn't imagine anyone who was truly indifferent to it. And yet she had found such a guy. She didn't really know how to deal with the revelation at first; but after everything was over they had walked for about an hour or so, just talking about music and what they had heard and experienced. She laughed when she found out that Doug's mom had been in a band in her younger days, and he laughed when she told him that her dad had done the same thing. She had caught him digging the sound a time or two during the presentation but she didn't push it, she wanted music to be something he explored for himself, with her just offering suggestions from time to time. 'Pleasant' she thought last night had been pleasant. There had been no fireworks or soul igniting kisses; as a point of fact there had been no kissing what so ever, but Ruthie had still enjoyed herself immensely. She felt right with Doug, so right that she vowed to herself that even if nothing romantic happened with the man, she was still going to hang on to him. The doc had serious friend potential, and friends were something you always needed more of.

She shut off her alarm indulged in a long and sinuous stretch; luxuriating in the feel of her muscles coming awake. Reluctantly she got up and walked over to the door, best to let Quark in before he woke everyone in the whole building. She opened the door, the smile on her face lasted all of ten seconds, that's how long it took her to take in the headline; 'Bank Robbery goes Wrong, Ten Dead'. "It just goes to show you Jane, it's always something" she quoted to herself with a grimace; then she picked up the paper and started trying to figure out how to keep ten people breathing until tomorrow.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Nif could you focus please?" Ruthie said this for possibly the twentieth time that morning. Unfortunately Jennifer had seen the footage from the security camera, and consequently had seen Doug. As soon as Ruthie showed up that morning her friend was on her like a Terrier on a rat. She had asked about what he said and how he looked and what they had done. Nif had frankly not believed Ruthie when she said that no kissing had occurred, but eventually let it go.

Ruthie was getting frustrated; she kept insisting that it hadn't been a date, just two friends doing something together. She needed Jennifer to focus so they could figure out what to do about the robbery, Nif kept going back to the night before.

"OK, OK; I'll stop about your date that wasn't a date" Jennifer said "does the paper say what went wrong?"

"Not specifically, it just says that the robbers panicked and started shooting, killing seven people and wounding twelve before the cops punch their tickets."

"Nasty, I don't suppose a phone call would do it?"

"I've already tried that, I called the bank and the police; no change in the paper unfortunately."

"You're at least gonna wear the vest, aren't you?"

"Of course, it'd be a heck of a wasted of money to buy it but never use it. Besides, you know how I feel about bank jobs."

"I remember, and speaking of which, you sure you want to do this solo, I don't mind being there to thwart evil at your side. Did Supergirl have a sidekick?"

"No" Ruthie said "but if she did it would be you." She was touched at her friends concern, and the fact that guns scared Jennifer a lot more than they scared Ruthie. The fact that Nif was willing to still jump into the breach knowing what was coming was one of the bravest things Ruthie had ever seen. "Thanks Nif, but I don't want you at risk if you don't have to be. Besides, I move a bit better than you do."

Jennifer looked at her friend, she had known her offer to help wouldn't be accepted. At times it bothered her a bit that Ruthie wouldn't let her be more directly involved, but she always kept it in the back of her mind that the reason was simply that Ruthie needed her. She needed Nif to take care of all the things that Ruthie herself didn't have time for. So in a real sense, Nif was in the field all the time because of the support she gave her young friend. Jennifer also realized that Ruthie cared more about strangers than most people cared about close relatives, and that was a burden that Jennifer helped ease as much as she could. "You just make sure you get back in one piece kiddo, I don't want to have to change the name of this place to the 'Ruth Camden Memorial Gallery', the fees to have the sign fixed would bankrupt me."

"I will, you take care of yourself in the mean-time, OK."

"Sure, see ya later."

"And no playing my Doors box set til I get back."

"Just leave already, Jeeze."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie went to one of the back rooms and put on a Kevlar vest that she had bought the day after she had started getting the paper, her memories of Chicago still being fresh in her mind. She hadn't needed it yet, but she was darned glad to have it. She headed out the back of the gallery and checking the time, decided to walk to the bank, it was only three blocks away after all. She checked the paper again to make sure that nothing had changed. It hadn't and she had fifteen minutes before things went really bad. She headed to the bank, her mind working over different ways to head this off. By the time she got to the bank Ruthie hadn't come up with anything different to try. Well, time to give it her best shot; squaring her shoulders she marched into the bank and headed for the executive's desks.

Five minutes later, she thought she might have convinced someone to actually do something, at least call the police if nothing else. But then the guy asked 'the question'; "so exactly how do you know this?"

She hated this, people believed her, but only after the fact. If they were gonna believe her before an incident, they wanted ironclad proof triple witnessed and notarized. All of this was completely aside from the fact that she hated out and out lying. She was cool with bending the truth, but flat out lying stuck in her craw. She was willing to do whatever was needed to save people; lying included. But that didn't mean she enjoyed it. "That's not important; that they'll be here in a few minutes is; so do whatever it is you need to do to keep all these people safe."

"Unfortunately I cannot just go on your word young lady; please tell me again how you know what you told me is true."

"I heard them planning it" she told the man.

"So why didn't you say something to the police?"

"I did, they didn't believe me."

"So why do you expect me to believe you when the police wouldn't?"

"I'm hoping you're smarter than they are."

"I'm sorry miss, but I don't believe you."

"Why would I lie about this, you think I enjoy having you look at me like I'm insane?"

"I don't know what your motives are, nor do I care. Please leave now; we don't want and incident do we?"

Ruthie didn't mind in the least having an incident if it meant that ten people would still be drawing breath tomorrow, but this guy was useless. She got up and checked her watch again; one minute to go. She glanced out the front door, no on was there that looked like someone getting ready to rob the place. She wondered about the paper from time to time, could it be wrong? She didn't think so, but it was a heck of a gamble sometimes; taking that much on faith. Ruthie realized she was running out of both time and options, so as she was walking towards the front door, she darted to her right and vaulted the counter. This put her on the same side as the tellers. One of them panicked and triggered the alarm, just as Ruthie hoped would happen. She checked the paper, now there was no mention of the robbery and all she had left to deal with was the prospect of going to jail.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sergeant Billy Faraday was confused, and that meant he wasn't in a very good mood. A couple of uniforms had brought in a bank robber that apparently hadn't tried to actually rob the bank. Yes the girl had ended up behind the counter with the tellers, but had made no aggressive moves and had no weapons and no note. One of the managers had said that the girl was trying to warn him of a robbery, but that he hadn't believed her. Billy had checked, and sure enough someone matching the girls description had tried to tip them off about that particular bank being hit. But since she didn't have any substantiation, her tip had been ignored. While it was pretty clear that this girl hadn't been actively trying to rob the bank, there was no evidence that anyone else had been trying to do so either. Which was why he was confused; what the heck was the girl up to, was she a distraction for a robbery that hadn't come off, was she just a concerned citizen or was she some sort of nut job that has to create drama in her life. He was getting ready to go back into interrogation and find out the answer when a soft voice behind him asked "do we have any external surveillance?"

Billy nearly jumped out of his skin, it was his Lieutenant. This guy was scary; he had instincts like nobodys business and could stalk so well that the dude was damn near invisible. The guys in the precinct were all for chipping in to buy a bell for the LT to wear around his neck so they'd know he was there. "We haven't examined it yet sir" he replied."

Can we pull it up" the LT asked.

"Sure sir, just a second." Billy spoke into a little microphone and soon the image on the monitor changed from the interior of the bank to the exterior. "OK sir, here we are. This is starting five minutes before the alarm was set off."

Billy and his Lieutenant studied the tape. After two run throughs the LT straightened up "she's telling the truth" he stated with total conviction.

Billy whipped around to look at the man behind him in total disbelief "you know that from what we just saw?"

"Yep" the Lieutenant said with a thin smile "check the patrons in front at four and a half minutes, two and a half minutes and right before the alarm was set off."

Billy turned back to the monitor and focused at the times that the LT had emphasized. It took six more run throughs, but he finally saw it. Three guys in long coats, they would pause while walking past the door to the bank. They were moving individually, but their focus was always on the door. When the alarm was set off, they left rapidly and Billy saw one coat flare. This exposed what looked to be the end of a shotgun. "OK, the kid was right, but how did she know it?"

"That's what I'm going to find out" the Lieutenant said as he headed for the interrogation room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie was frustrated as well. She could tell that the officers didn't believe her about the robbery, but she hadn't behaved like a criminal, so they were confused about what she had actually been doing. She was glad she didn't have anything else to do today, or it all of this would have seriously messed with her karma. As it was she was getting a bit antsy and was just getting up to start a Tai-Chi routine to calm her nerves when the door opened and a different police officer came through.

"Ruth Camden, age twenty four, part owner of an art gallery and part time employee of the Denver Post; not the kind of girl that usually gets mixed up in a bank robbery. So what is it, you were bored or something?"

"I didn't have anything to do with it officer"

"Lieutenant" he cut her off abruptly; "Lieutenant Paul Armstrong. We know you were telling the truth, we saw the robbers on the exterior cameras, what we don't know is your relationship to them. We don't know if one of the guys is a brother or other relative. We don't know if one of them's your boyfriend and he turned out to be different from what you'd hoped. No shame in having a guy fool you, it's happened before to women smarter than you, I assure you of that. Heck for all we know you're just someone they hired that got cold feet when you realized what was about to happen. So which is it, how did you know where and when they'd hit?"

"It's none of those Lieutenant Armstrong, I just knew, that's all."

"How did you know, like a flash, voices, some sort of second sight, or do you just have guys plan robberies in your art gallery?"

"No sir, nothing like that." Then the name sank into her "Armstrong, Paul Armstrong; you moved out here from Chicago, right?"

"Yes I did, but how did you know that, another psychic flash?"

"I'm not psychic" Ruthie answered "we just happen to have a mutual friend."

"And who might that be?"

"Gary Hobson"

Paul jerked back when she had said that name. In the observation booth, Billy almost came through the door; the LT was reacting like the girl had pulled a piece or something. Ruthie saw a swarm of emotions on the man's face, only to see them suppressed brutally; the only hint at the depth of his emotion was a slight twitching at the corner of his left eye. "You know Hobson?"

"Yeah" Ruthie said with a bit of a smirk "you might say I'm a protégé of his."

Armstrong's eyes got big with understanding "so you do a lot of 'paperwork' Ruth?"

"Yes sir, for the last few months."

Paul just sat down and put his head in his hands. Sometimes it just wasn't worth coming into work.

In the booth, Billy was even more confused. The kid had said one name, and the LT had collapsed like a house of cards. He was wondering who the chick was, and more importantly, who the heck was Gary Hobson."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Nurse Maggie Selneck smiled as she watched Dr. Howser take care of a little girl with a broken arm. Frankly she was astounded at the difference in him from just a day or two ago. He was smiling and joking with the kid and even with the parents. Maggie had been a nurse for over thirty years, and she had seen a lot of doctors. Some had been brilliant, some abysmal; but most had just gotten by. The Emergency Room was like that, it drained you if you weren't careful. When he had come back from California two years ago, Maggie had been sure that they wouldn't be seeing doctor Howser around for very much longer; but he had proved her wrong. She knew he had been miserable for most of that time, but he had stuck at his post; she had admired him for that, for putting duty above his personal feelings. And now he was alive again, not imitating it as he had been doing, but actually alive. She didn't know how or why but she was grateful to whoever had pulled him out of the downward spiral he was in. She waited until he was done with the girl and walked up and casually asked "so who is she?"

She almost giggled as Dr. Howser jumped like he'd just been goosed, "who is who" he asked.

"The girl who's got you walking on cloud nine" Maggie answered.

"Uhmm, well, you remember the sprained ankle girl who was in here two days ago, well we kinda went out last night."

"And where did you 'kinda' go to?"

"The planetarium" he replied "we sat and listened to music for two hours and then went for a walk."

"That sounds lovely and very old fashioned" Maggie said with a smile. "So are you going to see her again?"

"Well I" doctor Howser started to answer, but then he just fell silent and his eyes got big.

Maggie turned and saw a very pretty young woman walk into the ER. She was smiling, and her smile grew when she saw Doug standing there. Bold as brass, she walked right up and planted a kiss on the startled man's cheek "so how are you doing today Skippy?"

He stammered for a moment then got control of his vocal cords back "I'm fine". Then, remembering his manners, he introduced the duty nurse to his new friend. "Nurse Maggie Selneck this is Ruth Camden, Ruth this is Maggie."

Ruthie turned to the older woman, very aware of the scrutiny that she was under at the moment "nice to meet you" she said, extending her hand.

"And you" Maggie said, taking the younger girls hand in a firm grip "how's your ankle?"

"Fine, thank you for asking. It's just a bit stiff now and again, but definitely better than it was."

"That's good, doctor Howser said that the two of you went to the planetarium last night, that's an unusual place for a fist date."

Ruthie looked a little uncomfortable with the inquiry that was going on so Doug stepped in. "A bit unusual I guess, but it was fun. So what brings you by today Ruth?"

"I was in the neighborhood and wondered if you wanted to go for dinner when you get off."

Doug looked at his watch "well, I'm off in half an hour if you don't mind waiting."

"No, waiting is no problem." Ruthie went to sit down, but before she got there she turned back and asked "you don't like hockey, do you Doug."

"I don't love it, I don't hate it either; why do you ask."

"Cause the Av's are playing the Red Wings tonight and I was kinda wanting to go somewhere to catch the game, if you're OK with that."

"Sounds good, I'll see you in a bit" he said as he went back to work.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

They were sitting in Bash Riprock's enjoying some greasy food. Ruthie was drinking a Killian's and Doug had a Screwdriver, they had come here after Doug had gotten off shift. Surprisingly there hadn't been any awkwardness between the two, and considering their respective pasts that was very surprising.

The game was between periods when Doug asked "so what went on in your day?"

"I got hauled into the police station because I saw that some guys that were going to rob a bank so I tripped the alarm to scare them off." She fired this off like it was an everyday occurrence.

Doug was incredulous, and Ruthie had a brief giggle at the expression on his face. "You can't be serious" he said.

"Yeah, I am" she replied. "The police thought for a while that I was part of the gang and had just screwed up, but they released me finally. How about you; any serious doings in the ER?"

"No" he answered, still a little freaked about the bank robbery thing "it was a pretty routine day, the usual accidents and stuff. No one died, so that's what I call a good day."

"I'll drink to that" she said raising her glass. They clicked glasses and drank, then they found themselves looking in each others eyes over the rims of their glasses. They held their gazes for almost a minute, before a yell from the bar snapped them out of it. Suddenly Doug looked uncomfortable and Ruthie felt herself blushing.

"You know you surprise me Ruth" Doug said trying to dispel the awkward silence that had descended "in my experience, not many girls actually like drinking beer. I'd have thought you would have gone for a mixed drink or wine cooler or something like that."

"I spent the last five years in Chicago" Ruthie replied with a grin "you can't live there and not drink beer. Besides everyone has to have one vice, beer just happens to be mine." She leaned forward with a predatory smile "what's your vice doctor Howser?"

She had expected him to blush or stammer or something, what she didn't expect was for him to lean forward until he was right in her face and say "whips and riding crops".

Ruthie found herself blushing and her heart racing; he couldn't be serious, could he. She started to stammer out something about personal preferences and stuff like that until she saw that Doug was barely holding his laughter in. She glanced down at the table and then looked up with a grin "man did I deserve that"; then she started laughing and he joined in.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"So do you like acting, I mean in the theater type acting" she asked as they were walking back to his car.

"Well, I took an acting class for a bit with a good friend of mine, but that's been a while; why?"

"Well, I'm in this amateur Shakespeare troupe and we're doing 'Much Ado about Nothing' this year, or at least we're trying to."

"What's the problem?"

"Well, to put it simply we need more people, I was wondering if you'd be interested."

"Who would you be playing?"

"Beatrice"

"Is Benedick still open?"

"Yeah it is; you know Shakespeare?"

"I'm not a complete stick in the mud, believe it or not."

"No, I believe it, especially after the whips comment." She looked at him with hope in her eyes "so you'll help?"

"Of course" he said "how could I say no to my life guru." His voice was laughing, but his eyes were serious. Ruthie saw this and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and kissed him, slowly and tenderly. "Thank you" she said and he nodded. After another moment or two they headed on to his car.


	4. The Joy the Day Brings

THE DENVER EDITION – CHAPTER 3

For once Ruthie didn't need her alarm or Quark to wake her up, she was already up at 5 am. Anyone who really knew her would be getting ready for the apocalypse right about now, because Ruthie never woke up early, it was just one of the laws of nature. What had woken her, and troubled her still was the kiss last night. It had been good, darned good; and she hadn't been properly kissed in a while. But even more than the kiss was fear. She was scared that she was falling for Doug, heck she was scared that she had already fallen for him. The thing is that even if she is falling for him, it couldn't work. He was a rational guy, probably one of the most grounded guys she had ever known; there was no way he could deal with the paper. Armstrong was her proof of that. She had heard all about the detective from both Toni and Marissa. Gary had never talked about the guy. He had actually left the city he was from because he couldn't deal with the reality of Gary and the paper. Even years later, he displayed a tic at the mere mention of Gary's name, how warped was that. And if that kind of knowledge could drive someone as analytical and intelligent as a homicide detective off his rails, what would it do to Doug. She needed to know, but she was afraid to know. She wanted him in her life, but at the same time she was afraid he would bolt for the blue if he found out everything her life was about. Maybe Gary could help; she could at least call him for advice. And Nif, Nif could always be counted on to speak her mind, whether Ruthie liked it or not. So she had people who could help her figure out what to do. Now all she had to do was find the guts to ask them. Teressa used to tell her that 'everybody's life has static'; and while that was true, Ruthie just wished hers didn't resemble white noise so much.

Realizing that she wouldn't be going back to sleep, and that she might not have time for a shower later, she went ahead and took one. She left the door slightly ajar so Quark could get in, and just tried to relax in the warm spray. It did work to a degree; Ruthie figured there was a magic in simple warm water that seemed to diminish cares.

When she got done, she walked out in her robe and picked up the paper. She was working through it as she fed Quark. 'Dang' she thought, this is gonna be one of those days. She counted five saves, none of them phonable, that she would have to take care of. "If nothing else, it should take my mind off of my other troubles" she said to Quark. Then she went to get dressed and prepare herself for a busy day.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

She had figured that her first save would be her easiest. Jean Stevenson, age 11 was gonna be buried in a snowbank. Her body would be discovered when a plow truck driver saw something in a bank that he had been pushing back. From the paper it wasn't clear if she froze to death or if the plow killed her; either way it had to be stopped. The problem was that no one was exactly sure when the girl would be buried. The best estimate was 9:30 in the morning, and that was from one of the girl's friends. So here was Ruthie, sitting in her car and staking out a snowbank. Now this looked promising Ruthie thought, a girl being followed by about 5 boys who looked just slightly older. She could see that they were having words, and then the biggest picked up the girl and whomped her down in the snow, the others started to pile snow on top of the girl. Seeing enough, Ruthie got out of her SUV and headed over.

"Jean Stevenson" Ruthie called out.

"Who's askin" the largest boy asked.

"I am" Ruthie replied "and unless you want me telling the cops about seeing you beat up a girl, I suggest you back off."

The mention of the police had the effect that Ruthie was looking for and all the guys backed away. "Jean, is that you hon?"

The girl was still a bit groggy from being slammed down on the bank; her eyes were having a tough time focusing on the young woman. "I'm Jean, who are you?"

"My name is Ruth, and I'm an artist. I was looking for you because a friend of mine suggested using you for a model. I saw you right before those boys started bothering you, and I came over." Ruthie was a bit alarmed that the girl was still having a hard time focusing, even though she was out of the snow. "Where's your mom and dad hon?"

"Mommy's at work, and Dad lives in Phoenix" the girl answered, her words slurring.

"Where's your mommy working at hon, cause I think you need to see a doctor."

"That's where she is, she's a nurse."

"Where at?"

"Denver Memorial Hospital" the girl said, then she just seemed to fold up in Ruthie's arms.

Ruthie loaded the girl into her SUV and headed for the hospital. She was there in under five minutes and carried the girl into the ER. Fortunately the first person she saw was Maggie.

"Maggie" she yelled out "I need some help here."

The nurse hustled up "now who is this?"

"Her name is Jean Stevenson, her mom works here as a nurse. I was driving over and saw her get tossed in a snowbank by some boys. They ran off, but when I got her out she was all woosy, then she just passed out."

"You just happened to see this, and stopped to help" Maggie asked.

"Sure" Ruthie replied "wouldn't anyone?"

"Not in my experience" Maggie said as she paged one of the ER doctors "are you here to see Doctor Howser?"

"I was, but I got an urgent call on my way over; I'll have tocall him later. Tell him 'Hi' for me" Ruthie said on her way out of the hospital.

Maggie just shook her head, the girl was kind and helpful, that was obvious, but always in a hurry. Didn't youngsters learn to take your time and enjoy life. And with that thought, Maggie returned to work.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Steve Bennett loved the fountain at the Civic Center. The lights and fountains were synchronized with the music playing over the PA, so it was like this constant counterpoint to the sound. But now something was wrong. The lights were flashing funny and the spray wasn't in time any more. He looked down into the water to see if he could figure out what was up.

Ruthie was running late, she had taken too long at the hospital (she had never planned for going there in the first place) and then traffic had been totally against her. She had to get to the Civic Center before a kid was electrocuted by a short in the control system. By running late she was limiting her options. She had hoped to be able to find the circuit box and shut the thing down that way, but running as late as she was that one was fading as an option. She pulled into the parking area and sprinted inside. She knew where the fountain was, she only hoped she was there in time.

While she was running she was going through her few options. Suddenly she had an interesting idea. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a tazer. This would work if she could get it to fire while it was in the water and not being held. Rummaging through her purse some more, she found a band-aid; not ideal but it would do.

She saw the fountain ahead, and saw a little boy very close to it. Knowing that she didn't have much time at all, Ruthie used the band-aid to hold the on button of her tazer down. Once it was secured she threw it into the fountain at the same time she yelled out the boy's name. He turned away just in time, so the flash didn't blind him. The tazer hitting the water caused the breakers to pop, unfortunately it set off a cascade and all the power in the Civic Center was turned off.

Ruthie just stood there for a moment in the middle of the dark and chaos "didn't see that one coming" she said and made her way to the exit.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Her next save was relatively close so she decided to walk to it. Some delivery guy was gonna get distracted and run a red light; killing a couple of pedestrians in the process. She checked the time and address again, and found she was actually early.

She stood there waiting and in the free time she had her thoughts turned to Doug yet again. She was gonna have to decide sooner or later whether or not there was the potential for something more here, or if friends were all they were destined to be.

Ruthie was shaken out of her reverie by the sound of a racing engine. She saw the Fed Ex truck heading down the block and realized that it didn't seem to be slowing down. Reaching in to her jacket pocket, she pulled out a tennis ball, and chucked it at the van. It was one of the first things Gary had taught her about making saves, the value of the tennis ball. It hit the windshield and jerked the driver's attention back to the road. He saw the light and slammed on the brakes. The sound of the shrieking tires caused the pedestrians to scatter, so no one was even there when the van crossed the cross-walk.

The driver leaned out of the truck's cab, trying to figure out what had hit his windshield and where it had come from. But Ruthie was already a part of the crowd and headed off to save someone else.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Monsignor Tom Coughlin was in a bad mood. His lunch had been interrupted time and again by the sound of construction going on in the same building as the restaurant. The upper floors of the high rise were being renovated and that meant a lot of heavy equipment, and that meant noise. The lunch conversation had been difficult at best, he and his companions sometimes having to yell across the table to be heard. So the absolutely last thing he wanted was to be accosted on the way to his car, but that's exactly what happened.

"Is your soul ready if the rapture came today" a young girl asked him.

"Yes it would be young lady, now excuse me" he tried to get past her, but she blocked his way yet again.

"How do you know sir, can you be certain you have properly atoned for your sins?"

"I am quite certain miss, now please let me by."

"What about the anger you're feeling right now?"

"What"

"Well you're feeling angry and frustrated right now, if you died at this very instant, you would be in purgatory for your sins. That's probably not the best place to be."

"I assure you miss, I am quite prepared to meet my maker". As he said this he finally got around the young lady. Just in time to see a rain of cinder-blocks hit and crush his car. The car he would have been in if it hadn't been for the religious fanatic that had delayed him. He turned back to see an enigmatic smile on her face.

She noticed this and said "best be sure about that atonement Father, the end of days might be closer than you think." And with that she headed in the opposite direction and was soon lost in the crowd.

The Monsignor turned back to his car, wondering what the heck had just happened.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie was not particularly fond of heights, she wasn't terrified of them, but they weren't her favorite thing either. Right now she had to deal with them directly. A window washer was about to die unless she could do something about it. She grabbed her rope and started to repel down.

Bill Jensen was cursing. The winch was acting up again, and he was currently stuck half way up. He had gotten it unfrozen in the past by rocking the controls. He was just getting ready to start when a young girl appeared on the scaffold next to him. Bill was so startled he almost fell off, almost.

Ruthie looked at the guy and had to suppress a giggle at his reaction. Quickly sobering she asked "Bill Jensen".

"Yeah, who are you?"

"Camden, I'm with the building inspector. You've got a problem with the winches on this thing, right."

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I was looking at em up there, the friction brake keeps engaging. You try to loosen it up now you'll end up as road pizza."

"So what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Well, you can go up, or you can go down."

"How am I gonna manage that?"

"Well, I can rig a rope from here to the ground, or you can follow me back up this one."

Bill took a look over the edge of the scaffold "I'll go up" he said.

"Great" Ruthie replied "you lead and I'll follow."

The two of them made their way up to the roof of the building. Once there, Bill took a look at the winches and blanched. He had nearly died and would have if it hadn't been for the girl. He turned to thank her, but the roof access door closing was all he saw.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Doug's day had been a little less than routine. Having little Jean dropped off the way she was stirred up a lot of dust. Especially for her mother, who was wondering what exactly had happened. Maggie had told them what she could, but it almost caused more questions than it answered. The idea that someone passing by, a perfect stranger had seen something happening, and cared enough to disrupt her entire day by taking someone to the hospital on her own; well it was a bit overwhelming. Doug tried to reconcile this action with Ruthie's rather 'devil-may-care' attitude, and was having trouble. Until he remembered how she had reacted when he asked her why she had done what she had done on that first meeting. He remembered the caring and the sincerity that he had seen in her eyes. It was then that he realized that there were in effect, two Ruth Camdens. The wild force of nature girl, and the deeply compassionate caring girl. What scared him was the fact that he was falling for both of them. She was stirring up feelings inside him that he had tried to bury long ago. Doing what he did, could he maintain a relationship with someone else. Every other time he'd tried had been disasters. If it worked, then that would be great; of that he had no doubt. But if it bombed, could he stand not having her in his life. He had only known her a week, and she already occupied a space in his heart and the thought of losing that was nearly unbearable. The idea that he might have to, scared him the most.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Nif came back from an early dinner to find Ruthie in the back room painting away. The Doors were on the stereo, telling Jennifer that now was not a good time to interrupt. She knew that Ruthie always played the Doors when she had something serious on her mind. Knowing her friend the way she did; she had a very good idea of what that something was. Her thoughts were cut off by the phone ringing. "Camden Gallery, this is Jennifer, can I help you?"

"Yeah" a voice said after a bit of a pause "I was trying to reach Ruth Camden."

"Certainly, may I say who is calling?"

"This is Doug, I mean doctor Howser. I treated her ankle a bit ago."

"Just a minute doctor, I'll see if she's free."

OK, decision time Jennifer thought. Do I disturb her, or do I leave 'Prince Charming' out to dry. Since he was what was probably on her mind, Nif figured Ruthie should face whatever was bothering her, so she went in and turned off the stereo. Ruthie just glared at the older woman with a very thunderous look. Nifer shrugged it off and said "Doug's on the phone".

The transformation in Ruthie's face was instant and complete. At the sound of his name, she just started glowing. 'Boy does she have it bad' Jennifer thought. Without saying a word Ruthie went to the other room and picked up the phone. "Doug, how's it going?"

"Pretty good here, how was your day after you dropped Jean off?"

"Busier than usual, a bunch of errands to run; how's Jean doing?"

"Real good, just a bad concussion. We're gonna keep her here overnight just to be sure. Oh, and her mom said to thank you."

"No big" Ruthie answered "I was just in the right place at the right time."

"Yeah, well it's a big deal to them and to me too. You're a special person Ruth, don't forget that."

"Thanks Doug, I won't. Hey, are you doing anything tomorrow night?"

"Well I'll have to check my busy social calendar, but I do believe I could manage to pencil you in."

Ruthie could almost hear the grin on his face; "well I'm honored" Ruthie replied. "Just let me know when and where so I can alert the paparazzi."

"Just what I need" Doug said "so tomorrow it is; I'll just leave a message at the gallery when I actually figure out what we're gonna do."

"Sounds like a plan Doug, see ya tomorrow."

"Bye Ruth" There was a moment of awkward silence when they both were debating on the wisdom of adding a phrase or two, but ultimately they both just hung up the phone.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie had spent the rest of the evening talking with Nif about whether or not she should pursue something with Doug. Nif, of course, wanted her to go for it, all pistons firing. Ruthie was a bit more reserved, but she was slowly coming over to Nif's way of thinking. So she was in a pretty good mood when she got off the elevator at her floor. That went away when she saw that there were lights on in her apartment. Knowing that she hadn't left anything on, she jerked the door open rapidly, hoping to surprise the burglars. But it wasn't burglars that she saw.

"High honey, surprised to see us?"

"Mom, Dad; what are you guys doing here?"


	5. Meet the Parents

THE DENVER EDITION – CHAPTER 4

She was awake early again. Ruthie's thoughts turned to the two people who were currently occupying her bedroom. Her parents had informed her that they were taking a long weekend and had decided on the spur of the moment to come out and see her. Ruthie was wishing that they had given her a bit of notice, but in truth all the notice in the world wouldn't have helped. Because this moment would have come sooner or later; now that it was here though, she was scared, really scared. In a couple of hours she was gonna have to tell her parents about the paper; and if they didn't accept it, she would loose them and she didn't know how she would be able to deal if her family abandoned her. Sure they annoyed her from time to time, but she loved them and they formed this emotional safety net that she needed in her life. She didn't think they'd go off the deep end about this, but she was still scared because she didn't know what their reactions would be. She was trying to figure out how exactly she would convince them that she wasn't insane.

Ruthie remembered Gary talking about how he had convinced Toni that the paper was real and that he really did what he did. Unfortunately that meant taking at least one and probably both of her parents on a save; that was something else she wasn't looking forward to. Assuming of course that they didn't head for the hills once she told them what was up.

She heard movement coming from her bedroom, in a minute or two the sound of shuffling could be heard. Ruthie checked her watch, it was 6 am. She figured it was her Dad, had had always been an early riser. She got up and started the coffee maker. Ruthie usually didn't drink coffee, but she knew that both her parents were hooked pretty good. She heard the bedroom door open softly and then close. Her dad wandered around the apartment for a bit looking for her, then he found her in the kitchen.

"Morning Ruthie, couldn't you sleep either?"

"No, nervous I guess."

"Nervous, about what?"

"I've got something I need to tell you and mom, but I kinda need a favor first."

"Sure, what do you need?"

"I know it's gonna sound weird, but could you go out and buy a copy of the Denver Post, there's a machine on the corner near the front of the building."

"What's this all about Ruthie?"

"Dad, I promise I'll tell you everything, but I want to tell you and mom at the same time so I don't have to repeat myself."

Eric Camden studied his daughter for a second "this is pretty big, isn't it" he asked.

"Yeah Dad, it is" Ruthie answered softly.

"OK then, I'll be back in a minute or two with the paper."

As she watched him leave, Ruthie thought about waking her mother, but she knew that the smell of coffee would do the job soon enough. While she was waiting she sat in the kitchen and tried to figure out how she was going to broach the subject without sounding completely mental. Unfortunately she wasn't having any luck with that. She heard the front door open again and her father walked in, paper in hand. Ruthie told him to just leave it on the table and handed him a cup of coffee, which he gratefully accepted.

"So, other than this big thing, how are you doing Ruth?"

"Pretty good Dad, the gallery is going well and I've got a part time job with the Post, so financially I'm pretty comfortable. I was just talking to Simon a couple of days ago about looking for some long term investments, so I'm already thinking about the future. I guess that means I'm turning into a responsible adult."

"You always acted like an adult Ruth, even when you were a kid, so that's not too surprising. It sounds like your professional life is going well, how about the personal?"

His daughter's blush was all the answer Eric Camden needed on that score. There was someone that she was interested in. He wasn't about to pry for the particulars, that was Annie's job; he was just happy that there was someone. He had remembered the heart wrenching talks that they'd had after her long time boyfriend broke up with her during her sophomore year. It had taken every bit of control not to pass the creeps name on to Robbie Palmer, along with a request to mail Ruthie a few choice parts, assuming that Robbie would leave anything recognizable. But he hadn't, and she'd gotten through it, but he had been afraid that she had been hurt so much that she wouldn't ever open up again. When she was in Chicago, he had talked to Simon about it. Simon was convinced that if Ruthie were given enough time and space, she'd leard to open up again. It had been difficult to not try and push her out on dates when she had been in Glen Oak over the summers, but he had taken Simon's advice. And obviously it had been good advice.

"So will we get to meet this young man?"

"Maybe tonight, if everything works out that is."

"Sounds good."

"So how are you doing, and everyone else?"

"We're fine, Chandler and I are splitting Sunday's so I have more time for pastoral relations, and it gives him some good practice." Eric wore the contented smile of a teacher whose protégé was coming along better than he had hoped. "Your mom seems to like teaching; I think it helps her deal with the emptying nest."

"I hadn't thought about that" Ruthie said "it must be weird to only have two kids in the house."

"It is, especially since the twins are trying to separate themselves from each other."

"What do you mean, separate themselves?"

"Doing different activities, taking different classes, things like that. It's kind of hard on your mother as well. Not to mention little Ben (Lucy's son) creating a bit of havoc in everyone's life. But Lucy and Kevin seem to be handling him pretty well. Matt and Sarah are doing well, but nothing yet on the baby front."

Eric's litany was interrupted by two different sounds. One was her mother opening the bedroom door. She was peering out into the rest of the apartment like an owl that's been awakened in the middle of the day; and the sound of a dog's bark accompanied by the thump of a paper hitting the ground.

"Is that your dog" Annie asked.

"Well, that's a bit complicated" Ruthie said, opening the door. Quark came charging in as Ruthie collected the paper on the doorstep. The little dog bounded around the apartment, both entertaining and distracting Eric and Annie so Ruthie had time to check the paper and make sure that there were no immediate demands. Once her scan was done, she looked up to see both her parents laughing at Quark's antics. She got out the dog food, which quickly calmed him down, and as she fed him she faced her parents. God she was scared; she took a deep breath to try and calm herself. "First I need you all to listen to the whole thing before you start asking questions, and second, I need you both to keep this to yourselves for now. I know it's not fair, but I need you both to promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

Eric and Annie looked at each other; it was obvious that neither of them had any idea about what was going on. They held their look for a moment longer, silently communicating; then Annie faced their daughter and said "you have our word."

"Thanks" Ruthie said, then focusing on her dad "do you remember the conversation we had last Christmas, on our little walk?"

Eric had to think for a moment and Annie asked him "what conversation."

Looking at his daughter, Eric answered "she asked about whether or not I thought it was possible for someone to know the future,"

"That's odd"

"I thought so as well, but I told her what I thought. Actually the more I thought about it, I figured she must be asking about her boss." Then focusing on his daughter he asked "am I right Ruthie?"

"Yeah Dad, but how did you figure that out?"

"I talked to Simon and we pieced together some information so I had Drew Michaels check out some police reports. He talked to this detective named Winslow in Chicago. All in all it was pretty interesting and very informative."

"So Ruthie's old boss was delusional and thought he knew the future?"

"Not exactly" Eric answered "the consensus seems to be that he really did know the future, on a limited basis at least. There was too much there to draw any other conclusions."

"But that's impossible Eric."

"Normally I'd agree with you Annie, but there's some pretty overwhelming evidence here." Eric turned back to his daughter "So how does he do it Ruthie?"

Ruthie silently thanked God for her dad's inquisitive nature, because of that she would never have as good an opening as she had just been given. "He does it the same way I do Dad" Ruthie replied.

"I'm sorry" Annie said "did you just say you know the future?"

"Yeah Mom, that's exactly what I said."

Eric and Annie exchanged another look, finally Eric spoke up. "So you know what's going to happen in the future?"

"Well, for the next twenty four hours at least" Ruthie answered.

"So exactly how do you know things Ruthie" Annie asked her daughter.

"This" she said, holding up her copy of the paper.

"The newspaper, how does that tell you anything it doesn't tell everyone else" her father asked.

"Because this isn't a regular copy of the paper" Ruthie replied.

"What do you mean, it's not a regular copy" Annie asked.

Ruthie took a deep breath "its tomorrow's copy of the paper" she said. She closed her eyes, anticipating the flurry of questions that were surely to follow. She wasn't disappointed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

'Of course it would be a save like this' Ruthie thought 'it couldn't be a hit and run or slip and fall, no, it had to be a jumper'. Her first save of the day was talking a man out of killing himself. Of course her parents had come along. After dropping her bomb on them this morning the questions had come fast and furious. At times she could tell that they were contemplating calling the guys with the white coats and butterfly nets to come and get her. But the presence of the paper and the research her dad had done had tilted the scales in her favor, for the moment at least. So now they were standing on the sidewalk, across the street from where a guy was gonna kill himself; her copy of the paper in their hands. Now all she had to do was make it change. 'Sure' she thought 'like it's gonna be simple'. Squaring her shoulders, she opened the access door and headed out on the roof.

John Taylor, age 39, married with two kids. His business was going under, and he believed that the only way he could take care of his family was if they had the money from his life insurance policy. Of course that meant he had to be dead. Which has led him here, to the ledge of the Fulton Building in downtown Denver, where he now stands contemplating the long way down.

"Seems like an awful nice day to be ending your life" a voice behind him said.

He turned to see a young woman, at least ten years younger than himself "you wouldn't understand" he replied, turning back to his contemplation of the sidewalk. Then he turned back to the girl "what are you doing up here anyway?"

"I saw you from the street and thought I might be able to help."

"My life's so bad no one could help."

"Then explain it to me" the girl said "tell me why you think it's necessary to end your life."

"Listen. . ."

"Ruth, my name is Ruth" the girl supplied.

"Listen Ruth, I'm sure you're a nice person, and you only have the best of intentions, but this is really none of your business."

"Yeah it is" Ruth replied "if I see a person hurting, someone I believe that I can help, then it is my business."

"You think you can help me" John asked, a little hysterically.

"I'd like to think so, but I can't be sure till you tell me what the problem is."

John took a small step back from the ledge and turned to the girl. "It's like this" he began and spilled out his tale. He told her of his hopes and how he kept running into walls, the struggle and the fight. How his family was suffering because he wasn't home, or when he was he was angry because of what was going wrong at work. "So I figured if I remove myself from the equation like this, then my family has enough money to be comfortable for life and Liz will be free to find a guy that deserves her."

"But your family won't have you" Ruthie said "have you ever asked them if that's what they want?"

"Of course not, but it's obvious that they'd be doing better without me."

"You think it's obvious, but maybe they see something else. You'll never know till you ask them. And if you go through with this, you won't get that chance, will you?"

"So you think I should keep trying?"

"What you think is important, but if you're asking my opinion then yes, I think you ought to keep trying."

"But it can be so hard sometimes" John said, his eyes swimming in tears.

"Yeah, life can be hard" Ruthie agreed "but it's our family and friends that get us through it. If nothing else, you need to live for them."

"But what about the business, and money; how will we live?"

"I honestly don't know John, but what if I was to tell you that on Monday, a multinational company was going to offer to buy you out for more money than you could imagine."

"How could you know that was gonna happen" John asked.

"That's not important" Ruthie answered "but how could you still think about doing what you came up here to do in case I'm right?"

John just stood there for a minute, head down just contemplating the roof of the building. Finally he just looked up and gave the young girl a smile "I guess I'm hanging around for a while" he said and started walking to the access door. He got to the door and paused for a moment. He was trying to think of some way he could properly thank the young woman for talking him out of killing himself, thank her for giving him hope back. "I can only say thank you" he told her frankly "but that seems damned inadequate".

"No" Ruth replied "it's perfect".

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"So is that a normal day for you" her dad asked.

"Pretty much" Ruthie said "today was a bit tougher than the average, just because of the guy on the building, but I've had worse." They were back in her apartment after a day of saves. In addition to talking John down, they had watched her stop a runaway baby carriage and prevent a 7 year old from chasing a ball into a busy street. Just another day for Supergirl as Nif would say. Of course she had taken her parents to the gallery, and they had met Jennifer. Everyone had seemed to hit it off well, Annie especially seemed to like the woman and the two of them were soon trading Ruthie stories.

Ruthie had shown them around Denver, a city she was really beginning to appreciate, but her parents had seemed indifferent. Giving up she had taken them back to her place.

"Honey" Annie said "have you ever thought about not doing anything, I mean it's so dangerous out there." She still had nightmares of the time Ruthie had been shot.

"Of course Mom, but I can't know about something and then refuse to do anything about it; I couldn't live with myself if someone ended up dead because of my inactions. Now before you start on the danger, I'm very well aware of it. I don't know if Nif told you about how we met?"

"No specifics" Annie replied "she just said you stopped her from being mugged."

"Yeah, she was being mugged, by a 250 pound guy who was drunk, and mean. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, going in and facing that gorilla, but if I hadn't then I wouldn't have the friend I have today. So I know it's risky, but what good thing isn't?"

"So what's the dinner plans" Eric asked, wanting to change the subject.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Despite its name, the 'Leadville Mining Company' is one of the best restaurants in Denver. Currently Ruthie was sitting at a table inside an old bank vault with her parents and Doug. As soon as she mentioned that she had already made dinner plans before she had known her parents were here, they were on that like white on rice. 'Who was he, what did he do, how had they met' all the usual questions. Actually for Ruthie, it was a bit of a relief not talking about the paper. It was a bit of a relief for her parents as well, now they could worry about more mundane subjects and not magical papers and the danger it put their daughter in.

"So Doug, Ruthie tells us that you're a doctor" Eric asked.

"Yes sir, I work in the ER at Denver Memorial."

"Do you like it" Annie asked. She had heard something in the young man's voice.

"Doug sighed and looked at the table for a moment "sometimes it's hard, harder than I imagined it could be. Accidents I can deal with, things happen; but a ten year old kid came in today" his voice cracked a bit "just beat to hell because she let the door slam while her father was sleeping off the previous nights drunk. Cases like that take it out of you. I know the father is going to jail, and I know that the kid is finally with some relatives that care for her but that doesn't make up for the years that this went on before the system kicked in." He looked up at the Camdens, "sorry to dump on you guys, but I couldn't hold it in any longer."

"That's OK Doug" Ruthie said, sliding her hand in between his two and managing to hold them both "Dad's a minister, so we've heard this story before and worse. The real question is, are you going to be OK?"

He was surprised at the family's reaction, but from what he knew of Ruthie, maybe he shouldn't have been. "I'll be OK" he said. "Knowing that she's finally safe from him, her smiling at me when she woke up, watching the cops man-handle him a bit; all those things make it a bit better. And having friends that care doesn't hurt either."

At that moment, Eric and Annie might as well have not existed because the two young people had locked eyes. Eric debated on interrupting them because he was sure spontaneous combustion might take place if they stared at each other much longer. For Ruthie and Doug, it was like they were truly seeing each other for the first time, and both liked what they saw. Alas, all things must end, and in this case it was the waiter trying to serve dinner that interrupted the two of them. Doug whipped around and Ruthie looked up to see the disgruntled waiter. Doug looked back at the girl and blushed; Ruthie just stared at the table and looked flustered.

The rest of the dinner was polite but awkward, and Doug left early, saying he had to go in tomorrow to check up on the girl. After that, the Camdens talked among themselves for a bit, then went back to Ruthie's place. It had been a busy day.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Eric Camden realized he was alone in bed and sat up. Annie was staring out the window, her mind a million miles away. "Quite a bit to take in isn't it" Eric asked.

"Do you mean the paper or Doug" Annie replied without turning.

Eric thought for a moment "the paper I suppose. It was just a matter of time before Ruthie found someone. And Doug seems nice enough."

"What about the paper Eric, why her; why should Ruthie have to be burdened with taking care of an entire city."

"I suppose because she can" he said, getting up. "If I got something like that I wouldn't know what to do or how to act. I couldn't do what she chooses to do. Understand Annie, it is her choice. She could have turned her back on it, but she chose to accept the burden. All we really can do is support her choice." Annie started to say something, but Eric cut her off "don't misunderstand, the notion that my little girl is stopping bank robberies and taking on muggers scares the heck out of me, but can you honestly think of anyone that you would rather have shouldering that kind of responsibility."

Annie sighed and looked at the floor, her silence was answer enough. As she came back to bed she said "your kids never turn out the way you expect, do they?"

"Well, I can honestly say I never saw this coming" Eric said with a laugh. Then leaned over and held his wife, are you really gonna be OK with this?"

"Yeah I will" Annie said "in time."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie was awake as well, but her mind was on someone not in the apartment right now. The way Doug had bared his soul at dinner, it had taken all her control to not simply hold him and tell him everything would be alright. If she was being honest, it was when she realized that she truly loved the young doctor. What's more, she was pretty sure that her feelings for him were reciprocated. That scared her. But what scared her even more was the realization that if they were ever to have a relationship, she would have to tell him about the paper. The telling him wouldn't be so scary, but his possible reactions were. What if he pulled a Meredith or an Armstrong and just left. Would she be able to handle life without him the way she now felt? Or what if he was like Bernie and smothered her, could she deal with that? No, telling him wasn't scary anymore, the possibility of him changing however; that was terrifying. And that's why she was lying on her couch, staring at the ceiling. She was summoning the courage to put her heart on the line.


	6. Messages Written in Fog

THE DENVER EDITION – CHAPTER 5

Ruth Camden was just about on her last nerve, and it showed. She was frazzled and snappish and a complete pain to be around. Nif had given up trying to reason with the girl and just closed her ears when the Californian got off into one of her rants. The problem was that there was no real focus for her frustration, not one she could deal with at least. You could say that Quark might be directly responsible, but he had taken to bolting into the apartment and hiding under the bed until Ruth left. Obviously she was having trouble with the paper, the kind of trouble that Gary had dealt with a time or two.

It had been five days since Ruthie's parents had gone back to Glen Oak, and in all that time she hadn't been able to have the conversation she wanted to have with Doug. The conversation that was about how they felt and where things might be going. In that five days, every time Ruthie thought that there was a clear patch of time, something would come up. A story would mysteriously appear in the paper and demand her attention at precisely the time that she had told Doug to expect her. She wanted to talk to him, but it seemed like the paper wouldn't let her. Hence her frustration.

The biggest problem wasn't that she hadn't seen him, she saw him every day at play practice; the problem was that they couldn't seem to get more than ten seconds alone, and Ruthie wasn't quite confident enough to just blurt out how she felt.

Doug was beginning to wonder just what was going on, she could see it in the way he looked at her during practice. Ruthie couldn't really blame the guy, she had begged off three times in the last week after all, but the fact that the look was there at all hurt more than she cared to admit. By Friday, hurricane Ruthie had pretty much blown itself out, and she as actually willing to listen, but by then, most people didn't want to talk to her. Fortunately Nifer hadn't been permanently put off, so when Ruthie approached her friend, Jennifer was at least willing to listen.

"Uhmm, Nif; I just wanted to apologize for this last week, I've been pretty irrational, and you caught the brunt of that. I'm sorry; even if you were my worst enemy you wouldn't deserve the way I acted towards you."

Nif just looked at her friend for a moment "it's OK Ruth, I didn't like it, but I did understand it. All I ask is that you please think before opening your mouth in the future."

Ruthie hugged her friend "I promise" she said.

Nif looked at her with laughing eyes "now that the touchy-feely stage is over, what's the paper got for ya today kiddo?"

"Nothing" Ruthie said "there's not a thing in here", she held up her copy of the Post, waving it around. "I guess after this week, it decided I needed a day off."

"Maybe" Nif said "but that seems kind of weird to me.

"It seems weird to me too" Ruthie responded "but I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth."

"So, since there's no paper business, what's on your schedule today, as if I couldn't guess."

"Just Doug" Ruthie said "I guess I get to talk to him today."

"Sounds like it" Nif agreed "you figure out what you're gonna say yet?"

"Sure, I figured I'd stick with a simple 'I'm in love with you'."

"Are you?"

Ruth thought for a moment "yeah Nif, I am. I'm just afraid he'll freak."

"So you're telling him about the paper as well?"

"Not today, I just want to get over this hurdle before taking on the next one."

"I don't like it, but that makes sense. Just don't put it off too long, or it could be disastrous."

"I know" Ruthie said "I just hope this thing lets me have something with the guy."

Nif laughed "you make it sound malicious."

"Sometimes I wonder" Ruthie replied "I mean how would you explain this past week."

"Honestly I thought it was doing you a favor" Nif replied.

Ruthie was incredulous "a favor, how the heck was it doing me a favor?"

"You were prepared to dash off on Monday and confront the guy about his feelings and what kind of a relationship would be possible, weren't you?"

Ruthie just nodded so Jennifer continued "by slowing you down, it's given you both some time to think about what it is you have and what it is that you both want. This way, both your heads will be clearer, so it'll be a conversation you both can deal with, and you won't overwhelm the guy."

Ruthie thought for a moment, what Nif was saying made a heck of a lot of sense. "So you think that the paper slowed me down for my own good?"

"Yeah" the older woman replied "I think so".

"That's something that never occurred to me" Ruthie said with a laugh.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Maggie was concerned. Doctor Howser had been preoccupied all week, and he hadn't looked happy either. His personal life wasn't her business, but when it started to affect his job and patients, then it became her business. He had just finished up stitching up a man that had cut his leg badly on some broken glass when she walked up to him "are you alright Doctor."

"Sure Maggie, why do you ask?"

"Well you've seemed a bit out of it all week; I was getting a bit worried. It's not like you to be distracted."

"No, I suppose it isn't." He sighed heavily and turned to the nurse "it's Ruth. Ever since her parents were here, it's like she's blowing me off. Three times we've made plans this week and each time she's backed out. It's got me wondering if I wasn't just building something up in my head that wasn't there."

"What do you mean?"

"I think I really care about the girl, and I'd gotten the feeling that she cared about me as well, but now she seems to be in this total avoidance mode, and it's got me thinking."

"What do your instincts tell you" Maggie asked.

The thought for a moment and answered "they tell me she cares" he said simply.

"Then stick with that and try not to worry so much. My guess is she has some issues to work out, and each time she thought it was under control until it actually came time to be with you, then she realized that she wasn't as ready as she hoped. Give it a bit of time Doctor, you're both young; you can afford to be a little bit patient."

"Thanks Maggie" Doug said with a smile "I appreciate the advice." Then he picked up another chart and went back to work.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie was out front with some customers while Jennifer was in the back catching up on the books. A sharp bark brought her head up from her task. Quark was sitting on Ruthie's desk, staring at her. 'This can't be good' she thought, and after shooing Quark off the paper she picked it up, the front page made her blood run cold. "Dozens Die in Fog Related Accidents" was splashed across the front page. Nif looked up in panic "Camden, I need you back here right now" she yelled.

A moment later Ruthie popped her head into the back office, "what's the urgent" she asked.

Nif just held up the paper so Ruthie could see the new head-line. Ruthie turned pale and dashed in and grabbed the paper from Jennifer. "You have got to be kidding me" the young woman said.

After a moment or two of reading, she looked up at Nif "there's no way I can stop fog, all I can hope to do is minimize the damage."

"Could you drive up to the pass and block traffic?"

"Only in one direction; no, we need the pros in on this one."

"So what are you gonna do" Nif asked.

Ruthie just smirked at her partner "lie my butt off" the girl replied as she picked up the phone.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"State Police, trooper Wallace here."

"Hi, this is Camden with the Post, we had reports of a severe fog bank east of the Loveland Pass, I was wondering if you could comment on that? Any incidents that you know of; anything like that?"

"Well it's the first I've heard of it, but I'll check. Please hold."

Trooper Wallace picked up the radio. "This is central to any troopers east of Loveland, we just got a warning about fog, anyone see anything?"

After about thirty seconds a voice replied "this is trooper Vincent; yeah a pretty dense bank looks like its coming down right now. I'm in Lawson; do you want me to initiate emergency procedures?"

"That's affirmative Trooper Vincent, do so immediately. Attention all troopers east of the Loveland Pass, initiate highway emergency procedures immediately."

Trooper Wallace looked back at the phone and picked it up. "Yes, emergency procedures are being taken as we speak. So far as I am aware, there have been no incidents yet."

"Thank you Trooper Wallace, I appreciate your time."

As soon as Ruthie had hung up with the state police, she was on the phone again, this time to the Post. "City desk this is Garner"

"Hey Phil, it's your favorite artist."

"What do you want Camden."

"Hey, I just got a call from a buddy of mine in the state police. He said something about a fog bank on I-70 east of Loveland, you might want to get someone to cover that."

"How good is this" the City Editor asked.

"This is A-one material, and right now, you're the only media outlet that knows about it." Ruthie could feel the editor tense up on the other end of the phone.

"Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack."

"Thanks Camden, if this pans out I owe you one."

"I'll remember that Garner" the girl laughed and hung up.

Ruthie made three other phone calls, two to radio stations and one a TV station that knew her. Her only hope was to get the word out before anyone was hurt, so that's what she was trying to do. She flipped the paper over again and saw that people were still going to die. Reading further she found that they wouldn't die in the accidents, but when a local hospital was caught unprepared for the rush of casualties. 'Not if I can help it' she thought and picked up the phone again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Emergency Room, this is Nurse Selneck, how can I help you?"

"Maggie, it's Ruth Camden; is Doug available?"

"Yes he is Ruth, could you hold for a moment?"

"Sure, and thank you Maggie." She heard the click from being put on hold, then less than a minute later she heard his voice "Howser".

"Listen close there Skippy, you're in deep shit."

"Ruth, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the thirty accident victims headed to your hospital, the ones that will be sitting around for hours because you're short staffed today."

"What accident victims" Doug asked, at the same time wondering if the girl was insane.

"From the fog on I-70."

"And how do you know they're headed this way?"

"The paper called me. There's someone out there covering, and they knew where the vics were going. She knows that I know you, so she wanted some information about you, background kind of stuff. I remembered you saying at practice last night how short staffed you'd been lately, so I called to warn you."

Suddenly he was sweating, despite the cool conditions of the hospital. But as soon as the panic came, it left and he knew what had to be done. "Any idea on when they'll get here?"

"In under half an hour, I suppose" Ruthie said.

"Listen Ruth, I've got to go now, thanks for the heads up."

Ruthie let out a heavy breath, he had believed her. "Not a problem Doug, just do your best today, promise."

"Easier done than said" he replied "take care, and thanks again".

"You're welcome Doug, bye for now."

"Bye" he replied and hung up the phone.

Immediately he turned to Maggie and the rest of his ER staff "we're gonna have about thirty guests here in under half an hour, get the OR's warmed up and call in everyone available. Scrounge every nurse and orderly you can and have admin send over someone just for the paper-work. I'll be setting up a triage area here in the lobby. Let's go people, we've got a crisis on the way" he snapped and they moved.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie checked the paper, there were still some people with critical injuries, and one amputation, but no one was gonna die, and that was good. "So what are you gonna do now" Nif asked.

Ruthie thought for a second, and then said "I'm gonna head down to the hospital, I know I can't do much, but they'll need help."

"Plus it gives you a chance to be around Doug" Nif added with a little grin.

Ruthie just blushed, which answered Nifs unasked question. "That may be a consideration as well" she finally muttered.

Jennifer just laughed at her friend "head on down there kiddo, this place'll be here when you get back."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Doug couldn't remember when he'd worked so hard, the victims had started flooding in, but thanks to the alert they'd gotten it hadn't overwhelmed them. He was taking a five minute break when he saw a familiar face in the lobby. Not revealing his presence he just watched her. She was joking with a man while doing a little sketch for the little girl sitting next to her. Idly he wondered how long she'd been there.

"She's been here since the first ambulance rolled in" a voice said at his side.

He turned to see Maggie standing there, as solid as ever; but the nurse's stoic façade was cracked, her voice tinged in admiration. "What's she been doing?"

"Running errands, keeping everyone's spirits up, doing some sketching, and listening; to the victims, their families even the staff."

"Does she have any friends or relatives here" Doug asked.

"She doesn't seem to; she's been talking to everyone."

Doug just stared at the woman who might just have the key to his heart for a moment more, then went back to work.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie was exhausted, but she didn't care. She was sketching the children of one of the victims. They had fallen asleep in the lobby waiting for word about their mother, when Ruthie had caught them in a moment of peace. She was putting the finishing touches on when a voice came from behind her "that's very good work".

She smiled in recognition, and turned to see Doug standing there with two cups of coffee in his hands. "I know it's not your beverage of choice, but it's hot and it's free."

"Right now that's perfect" she answered him. Taking a sip from the cup she asked "how's their mom gonna be?"

"Fine" he answered "it was a little touch and go there for a while, but I was having a good day."

"Can they see her soon" she asked, indicating the woman's children.

"Not till in the morning, right now she's wiped out from the anesthesia and has about a dozen machines hooked up to her. She'll be in a regular room tomorrow, and look a lot better."

"And how are you doing Doctor?"

"I'm exhausted" Doug replied honestly "they've got a place set up for the doctors to snooze in, and I'm gonna take advantage of it soon enough."

"So what brings you out here?"

"I just wanted to thank you. If you hadn't given us the heads up, this day would have ended a lot worse. And I wanted to thank you for what you did for everyone here. The caring you showed us all was incredible."

"This from the guy who pulled off ten emergency procedures in the last twelve hours" Ruthie said; you guys are the hero's in my book."

"That's our jobs" Doug answered "you're here because you choose to be, and that's a lot more heroic, at least to me." His voice faded out because he found himself staring into Ruthie's eyes, and he didn't feel like looking away. She had started to answer him when he closed the distance and kissed her; softly but insistently. He pulled back, and noticed a lazy smile on Ruthie's face. Suddenly feeling unsure of himself he started to pull away, but her arm snaked around his neck and pulled him back into the kiss. Eventually oxygen became an issue for both of them. They eased back a moment, never breaking eye contact, then just held each other close. Questions and answers would come later.


	7. Teetering on the Brink

A/N I would sincerely apologize to all of you who have been following this story for making you wait over a month for this chapter. I could show you the six different versions I went through or the dent in my basement wall where I was banging my forehead, but instead I will simply offer this chapter as the best apology I can make. I looked at the direction I had planned for the story and realized it was simply re-writing some of the better first season episodes, and not terribly original re-writes at that. So I am going to try a new direction (but not radically so) and attempt to work on a story line or two that didn't appear on the TV show. I can only hope that this will not turn out to be a disaster. If it is, I fully expect you, gentle readers, to let me know about it, because that is the only way I'll ever improve at this. So thank you for taking the time from your lives to read my works. Now that I have blown off all of my steam, let's find out what happens...

POE1911

THE DENVER EDITON – CHAPTER 6

Ruthie gave herself a luxurious stretch before turning her alarm off. Yesterday had been nearly perfect. After the night she had spent at the hospital with Doug, he had taken the next day off and they had just been together for the whole day. The only thing that had marred it, in Ruthie's opinion was that she knew that both she and Doug had wanted to use the L word (love) but both were a bit skittish when it came to that. Even more importantly Ruthie didn't want him to say it until he knew everything about her life and that definitely included the paper. Quark's bark alerted her to its arrival, so she got out of bed and opened her front door. Quark darted in, but Ruthie just stood there looking at the paper in disbelief. 'Student Kills Six and then Himself' was the headline.

Ruthie just shook her head and closed her eyes, hoping it was fatigue that had made her see what she had just seen. But when she opened her eyes the headline was still there. Reluctantly she picked up the paper and tried to figure out how she was gonna stop this one.

After ten minutes of serious thought, she could only come up with two solutions, one was go there herself, and the other was call Armstrong. Reluctantly she admitted that this was the kind of thing that should be left to the professionals and picked up the phone and dialed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Faraday"

"Lieutenant Armstrong please"

"Sure, who can I say is calling?"

"This is Ruth Camden"

And that name changed everything as far as Billy was concerned. This was the chick that had freaked out the guy that Billy considered to be unflappable. Billy had checked out the name Gary Hobson, and what he had found had only made him more confused. The guy was just a bar owner, but somehow he ended up in the hospital more than a stuntman, and had a police file the size of a phone-book. Never convicted of anything, but investigated dozens of times. What wasn't in there was the reason that Armstrong was freaked by the guy, there were a few incidents mentioned in Hobson's file, but nothing that would cause that level of reaction. Time to try and figure some things out.

"And this pertains to. . . ."

"An issue of mutual interest" the girl answered.

"Does this concern a certain Gary Hobson?"

"In no way shape manner or form" the girl snapped back "now are you gonna put me through or do I need to complain to IAD about your unprofessional conduct."

Billy looked a bit nervously, the girl hadn't hesitated to go right for the 'nuclear option'; that told him that she was both smart and ruthless. He sighed, best to put her through.

"Hang on a second" he put Ruthie on hold and hollered over his shoulder "LT, line one for ya".

He hung up the phone and surreptitiously watched his lieutenant's face; wondering what he'd see there.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Armstrong"

"It's Camden"

"I'm gonna hate hearing this, aren't I"?

"Most likely, I know that I hate telling you" the girl replied "in about two hours a student named Michael Collins is gonna go nuts and re-enact Columbine down at Central High."

"How many" Armstrong asked, not having to ask if this was real or how she knew.

"Seven counting himself and fifteen wounded" Ruthie replied, relieved beyond measure that Armstrong had just accepted what she had said.

"Thanks" Armstrong replied "we're on it"; his hand was shaking as he hung up the phone. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself and then went to his door "Faraday, you grab six uniforms and come with me to Central High School."

"What's up boss" Billy asked.

"A shooting" Armstrong answered, brief and to the point.

Billy Faraday did as he was told, but all the time he was wondering how some artist chick knew about a school shooting. He knew that now wasn't the time to ask, but it was something he would dang sure remember.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie hung up the phone with a relieved sigh, only to start in horror at what was there now. Apparently now instead of a bunch of kids, two cops would die. Both from random fire as the attempt to nab the kid was botched. Ruthie knew that she couldn't call Armstrong again, so that left only one option, going down there herself. She quickly got dressed and headed down to her studio. If she was going there, she was darn sure wearing the vest. She dashed right in when she got to her studio, immediately alerting Jennifer that something was up.

"What's going on Ruthie" the older woman asked, once she had chased her partner down.

"A school shooting" the brunette said, wriggling into her Kevlar vest.

"Did calling the police ever occur to you" Nif said with a bit of exasperation.

"I've already done that" Ruthie said with a glare "the headline changed from a bunch of kids getting shot, to two cops dying".

"So now you've got to go and make it two cops and one artist" Nif said with a bit of anger.

Ruthie knew that the anger came from worry, but it didn't help at the moment "I'm trying to make sure that no-one dies" she said with a bit of a snap "that is what I do after all".

Jennifer stopped her reply and took a breath "I know kid, I'm just worried about you is all."

"That's good" Ruthie said "cause I'm scared spitless".

"But you're going anyway" it was a statement, not a question.

"I couldn't live with myself" the younger girl replied, sagging in her seat.

"I know Ruth, it's who you are. Just remember that I'm selfish, and want my partner to hang around for a bit longer."

"Thanks Nif" Ruthie replied with a smile "I'll do my best." With that she hugged her friend and headed out.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Michael Collins was sweating hard; somehow someone had known what he was planning. That fact had him more upset than the possibility of his getting killed. I suppose it would be fair to say that Michael wasn't sane by most standards. He had been having vivid fantasies about being a hired killer; and decided that the best way to practice for a career in that was to off all of his classmates that Michael categorized as worthless. He was sure that he wouldn't miss them and couldn't conceive of anyone else who would. He would just be killing off a bunch of conceited girls and brain dead Neanderthal guys; where was the bad in that. But now everything was a bust because someone had known what was coming.

It had been sheer luck that he had noticed the police cars pulling up to the front of the school. He usually didn't sit where he could see out the windows, but today he had, totally by chance. As soon as he had seen them come tearing up to the school, he had realized that they somehow knew what his plans were. Acting as coolly as possible, he had asked to go to the bathroom and instead had gone to his locker and gotten his gun. It was a Nickel plated 357 Magnum that he had bought on line. He calmed a lot when his hand wrapped around the grip of the pistol, his head becoming a bit clearer. The police might want to take him away, Michael thought, but he wasn't sure that he wanted to be taken, at least not alive. Quietly now, he slipped down the hall and into the Band room, which wasn't being used this period, and settled down to wait.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Billy Faraday walked down to the classroom where the kid was supposed to be. Despite his years on the force, he was scared as heck. Regular criminals he could deal with without a second thought, but someone crazy, especially a crazy teenager was so unpredictable that there wasn't any set way for dealing. You had to go with your instincts, and that was something that Billy was just learning to do. He knocked on the classroom door and looked in. The teacher gave him a rather exasperated look and came over and opened the door.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes ma'am" he said while surreptitiously flashing his badge "I need to speak to Michael Collins please."

The teacher looked confused for a moment "he's not here; he left to go to the restroom about five minutes ago."

'Just great' Billy thought "do you know where his locker is?"

"Just a moment" the teacher said and walked back into the room. Billy could hear her asking the class if any of them knew where Michael's locker was. He could hear a few murmured answers and soon the teacher was back. "Locker 417, down the hall and across from the Band room."

"Thank you" Billy said "now lock the door and don't open it for anyone that doesn't have a badge, alright."

"Do you think Michael would do something . . . . . drastic?"

"I hope not, but it's not something I'd gamble on" the detective replied "so close and lock the door after I leave; please."

The teacher nodded, and Billy heard the bolt slide into place as he walked down the hall drawing his pistol.

He was walking down the hall, checking the numbers on the lockers, if he had been paying better attention, he would have seen a pair of eyes tracking him from the shadows. 'There it is' he thought, a locker standing open with papers and books falling out and a jacket visible. Billy looked around the hallway, looking for where the kid might be. His head snapped around when he heard the sound of running feet. He aimed his gun along his sight line just in time to see a familiar figure come tearing down the hall. It was the chick from the bank job, the one they had let go. Also the one that tipped Armstrong off about this little situation he remembered. What the heck was she doing here? As he checked the girl running towards him, to see if she was armed, he caught motion out of the corner of his eye. Then everything exploded.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie saw the cop with his gun towards her, but she also saw the door opposite the sergeant open up and a teenage boy step out. Then she saw the gun. The kids focus was entirely on the cop, he didn't even seem to realize that she was there. She saw the gun coming up and leapt high, twisting her body so the vest was between her and the kid, and she was between the kid and the cops head. She heard the gun go off and felt the impact in her chest. The force of the shot knocked her into the cop in mid-flight, and they crashed to the ground together.

The kid just stood there gaping at the two of them, as though he couldn't understand what had just happened. Then he came to his senses and started to raise his pistol again when Ruthie heard a pistol near to her head bark twice. Billy put both he shots into the kid's chest. The pistol dropped from his lifeless hands and clattered on the tiles of the hallway, his slumping body close behind. Billy Faraday darted over to see if the kid had somehow survived, but he hadn't, the cop then turned his attentions back to the girl who had just saved his life. She was laying on the ground, curled up and clutching her chest. She seemed to be having some difficulty breathing. Just then his radio crackled and he heard Armstrong's voice.

"Was that gunfire? Report Faraday."

He thought for a second and then said "subject is down, there is a civilian injured, we'll need an ambulance and the coroner."

"On my way" was Armstrong's answer. Billy didn't even hear this as he went over to Ruthie and tried to help the girl out. "What's hurt" he asked.

"Ribs" the girl gasped out "lower right, damn I hate guns."

"Not real fond of them myself" Billy replied. "Listen, this curled up stuff is making it harder for you to breathe, let's get you flattened out. Can you stretch your hands above your head?"

Ruthie gave a small nod and with the sergeant's help, she got her body unclenched and straightened out. Once she got her hands above her head, her breathing eased even more. As her breathing eased, she became calmer and was finally able to think again. It was then that she noticed that the young cop was shaking.

"Are you OK" she asked while lying as still as possible.

"No" he replied "I don't think so. I just killed a kid and was nearly killed myself, so right now I'm pretty far away from OK. Look at me; I'm shaking like a leaf."

"You should have seen Brigatti after something like this" Ruthie said.

"Toni Brigatti, Armstrong talks about her every now and again, he said she's the toughest cop he ever knew."

"That's probably right, but she still gets the shakes, every time."

"How do you know her?"

She married my boss back in Chicago."

Billy was surprised at what was going on, the girl was the one who had been shot, but she was the one offering comfort to him. That was an unusual amount of compassion, not to mention the girl was pretty hot, at least in his opinion. He was jolted out of his thoughts when Armstrong and the paramedics arrived.

"You want me to ride in with you" Billy asked the girl.

"Nah" she replied "I'll be OK; thanks for asking"

"Give me a call sometime, cause I owe you for this, saving my life and all."

"Will do" Ruthie said with a smile.

Ruthie was doing much better by then and her breathing was nearly normal, but the medics wanted to take her in and have her x-rayed just to make sure. So they loaded her on a gurney and were rolling her out to the ambulance when Armstrong asked her "why were you here"?

She looked at the detective for a second then said "Billy and another cop were going to die, I couldn't allow that".

Armstrong just looked at the girl for a second and then nodded to the EMT's and they loaded her into the ambulance. "You realize I'm gonna have to come up with something for my report, don't you" the Lieutenant said with a pained smile.

"I guess I'll have to trust your creativity Armstrong" the girl said with a smirk

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Doug was having a pretty good day when the call came in that there was a gunshot victim on the way in. At first he put the ER on alert and was prepping for the worst, but soon he was able to see the patient's vitals and calmed down a lot. The vitals were darn near to normal, so either it was a graze or some other slight wound, or it was a mistake. So Doug was calm right up until the gurney was rolled through the door, and he saw who was on it.

As soon as he spotted Ruthie, Doug was there asking a million questions. They were coming so fast that no one had a chance of answering, and he didn't stop until he heard Ruthie laughing.

"Are you gonna breathe there Doug" the girl asked.

Doug leaned back and grinned and took an exaggerated breath, then looking the girl right in the eyes asked "are you OK".

Ruthie held his intense gaze for a moment then said "yeah, I was shot in the lower right chest, but I was wearing a Kevlar vest, so no penetration. The guys" she waved at the EMT's "thought the ribs might be broken and suggested an x-ray, so here we are."

Calming down, Doug just said "take her to treatment 3 for the moment, and leave the charts, please."

The technicians just nodded and headed off to the treatment room. Meanwhile Doug just stood and took another calming breath while staring at his shaking hand. He was surprised at the intensity of his reaction, but it only served to crystallize one thought in his head; that he was in love with the young artist. Beyond any doubt, he loved her, and he was gonna tell her that. Slowly he followed the path the technician's had taken and he went to see the girl he had just vowed to marry some day, hoping that she truly was alright.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"So what's the good word doc" Ruthie asked.

"Well, your ribs aren't broken, so that's good. Just keep em wrapped for a few days and you should be OK."

"Thanks Doug, I really appreciate this."

Doogie shot a smirk at her and adopted a broad Texas accent "'twernt nothin little lady."

"Yes it was most definitely something" she said with a laugh.

"So you want to tell me how this all happened?"

"Well, the short version is I found out that this kid was wanting to re-enact Columbine. I told the police and then went with them to bring him in."

"Why"

"I felt responsible, I suppose; maybe I was hoping to talk him down, honestly I'm not sure why, I just had to be there. Anyway, I wore a Kevlar vest and was just walking around looking for him when I saw he was about to shoot someone, so I put myself in the way. You know the rest."

"I can't believe you'd do something like that so casually, doesn't your life mean anything to you?"

"Of course it does, but I knew that I was protected, and that the cop wasn't, so I did what I thought was right. I don't have a death wish or anything, but if I see something happening that I can prevent, I do it. It's just the way I am."

Doug sagged a bit on the bed "I know, and I do understand, but I worry about you."

"Thanks, that means a lot to me."

He turned and smiled at her and leaned in close "I wouldn't want anything to happen to the woman that I l……." He couldn't continue because her hand was covering his mouth lightly.

"Don't say that, not yet" she asked.

"Why not?"

"There are some things you can't come back from, and telling someone that you love them is one of those things, at least in my book. But before you say that, there are some things about me that you need to know. I don't want you to say something and then regret it after you find things out."

"I can't see how it could be that bad."

"It's not necessarily bad, but it is a lot to deal with. I don't have enough time to tell you about it now, cause I've got a deadline to deal with, but if you could come to the gallery tonight after play practice?"

"Sure" he said, a bit disappointed and nervous "unless something comes up and I'm needed here."

"Fine" she said, sliding out of bed and kissing him tenderly "I'll see you then."

He got up, still obviously confused but masking it well. "I'll go get your paperwork processed so we can get you out of here. Then I'll see you later, do you want a ride to practice?"

"That would be great" she said "thank you."

He walked out of the room, Ruthie following his progress with anxious eyes. She hoped he would be able to handle what she was about to tell him.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Steve Issacs smiled when he saw who had just walked into the theater. Steve had been directing regional theater for many years and loved it. He had always enjoyed watching people who didn't think they could act discovering the joys of the theater. True, some of the times had been abysmal, but others had been spectacular. Steve was thinking that this production of 'Much Ado about Nothing' would be close to spectacular, and the two new arrivals were a big part of that. The rest of the cast called them 'the lovebirds' or at least they called them that when the two weren't around. It was clear, at least to most people, that they were in love; even if they wouldn't admit it. It was this repressed emotion that made the early scenes where the two characters clash so memorable, and it also made the ending scenes where they confess their love so much more believable.

When Ruth had first walked in and said that she had done a bit of acting before, and had worked sets and such, Steve had just nodded and said nothing; most amateurs had no idea how to design sets or props. He had finally allowed her to submit a couple of ideas, and he was forever glad that he had. When he had seen the designs he was amazed at the forethought and details that had been included in the renderings. Upon seeing the designs he had immediately allowed her to design the sets and backgrounds. Later that night he had gone home and done a bit of research; and found that one of the countries foremost artists was actually designing his sets. He could not understand why she had chosen to do this, but he was forever grateful that she had.

In addition to her skill with design, the girls acting chops were also first rate. Not Hollywood or Broadway good, but better than average for somewhere like Denver. And the guy was almost as good. That was hard to believe considering the first time he had been there, he was awful; but then the girl had talked to him for a minute or two, and suddenly the kid is going on like Olivier. Steve couldn't think of a better trick since 'Lazarus come forth'.

"Now that all the principles are here, let's do the party scene" he said. The company assumed their marks, and the scene unfolded.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I can't believe that there's only two weeks before we put it on for real."

"I don't know about you, but I need every minute of practice I can get."

"Please, you're the star of the show."

"You honestly think that?"

"Yes I do; and I'd think that even if I didn't care so much about you."

"I care a lot about you too Doug, that's why I need to tell you everything."

"Well, we're at the gallery, fire away."

"Did you ever wonder how I show up in the improbable situations that I do?"

Doug thought for a moment "sometimes things seem a bit far fetched, but you seem to be able to explain everything."

Ruthie hung her head "the problem is that most of those explanations are lies."

"What, why would you lie about things like that?"

"Because the truth is even less believable."

"OK, now that you officially have my attention, what could be so unbelievable that you would lie to people that care about you?"

Ruthie heaved a sigh and turned away "every morning I get the paper."

"So do most people."

"But I get a different paper than anyone else."

"Different, how?"

"Because I get the paper a day early."

"A day early, what the heck does that mean?"

"It means that at six thirty every morning, tomorrow's newspaper lands on my doorstep. I then have twenty four hours to put things right."

"What do you mean 'put things right'?"

"If there's a fire, I stop it from happening, if there's a bank robbery, I stop it…."

"And if someone is going to get shot, you prevent it" Doug said with realization growing in his eyes. That's how you knew about the little girl, and that we would be swamped with accident victims."

"Yeah" Ruthie answered "I read about it, then I fixed it."

"Why" Doug asked, surprised at himself for actually believing that Ruth was telling the truth. He realized that if someone was going to play at knowing the future, they would have come up with a much better story than a 'magic paper'. Maybe claimed to be psychic with a grandmother that was a gypsy or something like that, because anything else would be more plausible. But it was this very implausibility that convinced him that she was telling the truth, that and the fact that he trusted her.

"Because I get the thing for a reason, if I ignored it and someone got hurt, I'd never be able to forgive myself."

"So all this is a choice, couldn't you walk away?"

"You could stop officially being a doctor, but could you not help if someone needed a doctor. No" Ruthie said, answering her own question "you'd have to help, it's who you are. I'm the same way, I may choose to do this, but choosing not to would scar me permanently."

Doug paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair, finally he turned to face the girl "I'm gonna need some time to deal with this, you understand that, right?"

"Yeah" Ruthie sighed "I understand".

And without further comment, Doug turned and left the gallery. Ruthie watched him go, hoping he'd stop and turn around and hold her and tell her that everything was fine; but he didn't and it wasn't.


	8. I Hate Waiting

A/N Again I apologize for the delays in this chapter. I can only hope that you believe that it was worth the wait.

THE DENVER EDITION – CHAPTER 7

It had been two days. Two of the longest days of Ruthie's life, and it didn't look to be changing any time soon. No contact at all, not an E-Mail, not a card, letter or carrier pigeon; nada. To say that the girl was depressed would be an understatement of cosmic proportions. To her knowledge, she had only felt worse twice in her life, once was after her boyfriend dumped her publicly in Chicago, and the second was when she realized she would have to leave Chicago. She had tried everything that she could think of, everything that had worked in the past. She had listened to the Beatles, which had never failed to cheer her up, until now. She had even tried to paint it out of her system, but it hadn't worked (Nif had freaked over the painting so Ruthie gave it to her). She had started combing the paper, looking for excuses to go to the hospital, but the entire city of Denver seemed to be disgustingly healthy. Play practice hadn't helped, and neither had work. Ruthie wasn't sleeping well; she was barely eating, and felt like she would burst into tears at the drop of a hat. In short, the girl was falling apart.

She rolled out of bed a minute or two before Quark was due to show up and opened the door. She had been lying in bed wide awake for the last hour. As she was getting the coffee maker going, she heard the sound of the paper hitting the floor, and the swing of the door as Quark wormed his way in.

Ruthie went over and picked up her special copy of the Denver Post and went through it, hoping that there would be some story or save that would give her an excuse to go over to the hospital today, but it didn't look like the paper was cooperating. Actually it looked like a fairly slow day; a man falling off the roof of a building looked to be the only unusual save. Feeding Quark and getting ready, she headed off to keep Denver safe, although she would have preferred to know what was going on in the mind of a certain doctor.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The saves had gone well, despite a near miss with an angry guard dog, and now Ruthie was taking care of her last save of the day. Because it hadn't said anything about suicide, Ruthie concluded that there must have been an accident of some sort to cause the man to fall, so she went up to the roof as 'Kate McKellar' with the Department of Power and Water, on a surprise inspection. She was looking around, trying to find anything that would inadvertently knock a guy off the roof, when she heard the access door open up. She hurried over to see a man headed towards the western side of the building.

"Excuse me sir, what are you doing up here" Ruthie called out.

The man stopped and looked over at her "just taking in the view, I come up here and watch the sun settle over the mountains almost every day."

"That's OK sir, but my name is Kate McKellar, I'm an inspector with the city" Ruthie said, flashing her fake ID "and right now I'm working here. So if you could watch the sun some other day that would be great."

"Sure" the man said, shrugging his shoulders "sorry if I messed anything up."

"Not a problem sir" Ruthie said, grateful that the guy wasn't being obstinate "I'll be done by the end of the day, so tomorrow would be fine."

The man just thanked her and left. As soon as he did, Ruthie went over to the west side of the building. There had been no name and no picture in the paper, so Ruthie was forced to conclude that she had just stopped the guy from falling, but unless she wanted to be up here every day, she had better find out what made the guy fall in the first place. Ten minutes later she was just frustrated, she could find no reason for the man to have fallen, and he had given in too easily for a man who was set on suicide; no there must have been a reason for him to fall, she just couldn't find it. She leaned against a railing to think and suddenly the reason for the fall was abundantly clear.

Someone must have been working on the thing and somehow not secured it properly, because when Ruthie had leaned against it, the safety railing had swung open like a gate and left her teetering on the edge of the roof and contemplating a thirty story fall.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

What surprised Ruthie the most was what she was feeling. It wasn't fear or even regret, it was anger. Anger because she had done all of these dangerous things and come out alive only to be done in because some wrench jockey forgot to tighten a bolt. Anger because someone would have to dive into the paper blind, and people would be hurt because of that. But mostly anger because she would never find out what Doug had decided.

Gravity finally took a good hold and Ruthie could feel herself overbalancing and starting to fall. Just then, a hand grabbed her belt and jerked her back onto the roof. She lay where she fell, face down and momentarily unable to move, so she lay there wondering who had just saved her life.

"Pretty silly way to check out, don't you think."

Ruthie rolled over, a look of shock on her face as she met the laughing eyes of Gary Hobson. She lay there a moment, stunned by this turn of events, then she started laughing. Gary knelt down and held her in his arms and she laughed and cried, but the laughter prevailed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"So how have you been doing?"

"OK I guess" Ruthie replied "I haven't lost anyone yet, but I've been close a couple of times."

"Been in the hospital much?"

"Three times but nothing major; a bite, a sprained ankle and cracked ribs."

"That's good; the thing I hate most about this job is all the hospital time."

"What about the lying, does that ever get any easier?"

"Nope, that's something you're stuck with."

"That's the part I hate the most."

"I understand, with me it got so bad I started loosing my hair."

The two of them were still sitting on the roof of the building. For some reason Ruthie just didn't seem up to moving just yet, so she took the opportunity to talk to someone who understood her world perfectly. Gary had been there and done that and even had the T-shirt.

"I just feel dirty, especially when I know I'm lying to good people. I don't mind lying to jerks and criminals nearly so much, but when I lie to nice, decent people, it just hate it."

"I know, but it's necessary."

"I know it is Gary, that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"True, so how's life other than the paper."

Ruthie thought silently for a moment "some of it is great, but some of it really sucks."

"Let me guess, the friends and parents are great, the other jobs are fun, but the romance sucks. Or more specifically, the lack of romance sucks."

Ruthie just looked at him gape-jawed for a moment; finally she asked "have you been talking to Teressa?"

"No, I just remember how it was when I first got that thing. So tell me what's happening."

Ruthie just started talking and soon was spilling the entire story to Gary, about how she had felt sorry for the guy at first and then how the caring and affection had grown until she was sure she was in love with the guy. "Then I told him about me and the paper, and he just left."

"Well, what did you expect?"

"I don't know" Ruthie said, with an exasperated tone "but a little communication would be nice."

"Maybe, but you just turned this guy's world on its ear. He's got to adjust his thinking about everything and with a guy as grounded and rational as this guy sounds, that may take a little while."

"Do you think I've lost him for good" Ruthie asked, airing her greatest fear.

"Kid, if you lost him over the paper, then you never had him." Gary got up and brushed off his jeans "where can you get a beer in this town?"

Ruthie smiled up at her mentor and said "I know a place."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

They were down at Bash Riprock's enjoying the band when Ruthie asked "so let's hear about the romantic debris on the Hobson Highway."

"What"

"Well it's only fair, you know all about me, but I don't know about any of your paper/romance disasters."

Gary sat back and thought for a minute "well, Meredith you know about."

"Carson, I thought that was just a rumor."

"Nope, she and I were involved for a while, and she knew about the paper."

"So what happened?"

"She stole it once, after she had promised not to. Everything worked out, but she decided that she couldn't do her job in Chicago anymore, that knowing about the paper would be too tempting, so she took a job in DC."

"Bummer"

"I sure thought so at the time; let's see, there were Emma, Lowe, Rebecca and Kate, but none of them knew about the paper."

"But did the paper get in the way?"

"Yeah, it did. With Emma I found out that she was gonna meet an old flame at the opera. This was the same night I had planned on telling her about the paper. Anyway I had a choice, make sure she didn't meet the old love and hope that our relationship worked out or re-unite the two."

"That must have been one tough decision, why did you choose to let her go?"

"Because keeping her with me, knowing what should have happened would have been selfish, and I just couldn't do that."

"I understand, so what about Rebecca?"

"She was a weathergirl that I thought was cute, so I started giving her the next day's weather. Unfortunately getting the weather right became more important than us."

"And Kate was the Irish girl you almost married?"

"Right, that was an adventure, especially with my mom going on about wanting grandchildren."

"And Lowe, what kind of a name is that?"

"A made up one, her real name was Princess Sibella of Moravia."

"You and a princess, go on."

"I swear it's true, you can even ask Chuck or Marissa, she was in Chicago and wanted to see what America was really like so at a party she fell asleep in the McGinty's van. So we spent a day or two together and there was really something there but she had responsibilities and so did I, so we went our different ways."

"Did you ever speak to her again?"

"No, but we still exchange letters and cards, once in a while."

"Does Brigatti know about her?"

"Yep, she knows about all of them."

"OK so tell me about the ones that knew about the paper."

"Well, there was Renee, but she didn't believe me; there was Rachel, but she was only twelve."

"What"

"She was a twelve year old girl that found out about the paper and swore we were meant to be together."

"So what happened to her?"

"She got a new heart and I think she's in nursing school now."

"So what about Erica?"

Gary thought for a moment longer "ultimately Erica needed to be first in a guy's life, and realized that the paper would always be first with me. She couldn't live like that so she left."

"So what do you think Gary, as far as Doug goes, are we doomed?"

"I have no idea kiddo, the only bit of advice I'll give you is what old Snow gave me and that's 'live your life'. Don't let the paper take over who you are."

Ruthie sat back and thought about that for a second, and when she looked up she happened to see another familiar face. Smiling she said "come on over Billy and have a seat."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Billy Faraday had gone looking for Ruth Camden for several reasons; he just didn't know which one was the real one. First (at least at the moment) was the fact that he owed her for saving his life. But then it got all muddled, because he had also been captivated by the young artist. He thought she was beautiful, in a wholesome 'girl next door' kind of way, and that she was brave for putting herself between him and a shooter. But mostly it was her attitude afterwards, almost a devil-may-care 'OK I'm gonna live, lets move on here' attitude that reminded Billy of how a cop would react. As though saving a man's life and getting shot in the process was just another day at the office. The bottom line was he wanted to get to know her better.

He had gone to her gallery, only to be told that she wasn't there. When he had pressed her partner had given him the name of a bar. It was one he'd never been too, after all he tended to frequent cop bars. He wandered in, taking in the noise and commotion and was wondering how he could find anyone in a place like this when he heard a voice call out his name. He looked over, and there she was. His face lit up with a smile until he realized that she was sitting at a table with another guy. 'Just my luck' the young cop thought to himself, but he went over anyway. As he got closer, Ruthie jumped up and hugged him, and even kissed his cheek; Billy began to think that maybe he had a chance here after all. "So how are you fella" the girl asked.

"Still a little shaky" the young detective answered "but its getting better."

As they both sat down Ruthie said "Billy Faraday, I'd like you to meet my friend and mentor, Gary Hobson."

Suddenly Billy felt energized for a couple of reasons, one was that this guy was not a boyfriend or fiancé or anything like that; the other was that this was the same name (and presumably the same guy) that the girl had used to back off Armstrong; maybe he could find some answers.

"Gary, Billy here is one of Denver's finest and works for your old friend Armstrong."

"Small world" Gary said with a grin at Ruthie.

Billy leaned forward "so what does he have against you?"

Gary laughed "I own a bar, and I hear lots of things. When I hear about something that needs to be taken care of, I do it. Armstrong started wondering why I seemed to be involved in all of these shady situations and decided that I was some kind of master criminal. He was pretty bent out of shape when he realized that he was wrong."

"Dating his partner didn't help" Ruthie added.

"True enough" Gary said, then he turned back to Billy "after that he just wasn't comfortable around me, he was so sure and then to find out that he was completely wrong, well let's just say he didn't handle it well. When there was an opening out here, he took it."

"So that's why he freaks out whenever your name is mentioned, you remind him of a screw up."

"Pretty much" Gary said.

Satisfied for the moment Billy turned to Ruthie "you wanna dance"?

Ruthie considered for a second and then her face lit up with a smile "I'd love to" she answered.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Maggie looked up; Dr. Howser was doing it again; just staring off into space. All of the nurses had taken note of the funk he was currently wallowing in. Half of the staff was convinced that the young artist had dumped him, and the other half believed that he had dumped her; either way the young doctor was obviously miserable. "Are you alright doctor" she asked.

He snapped to himself and looked around wildly for a second, then he calmed "what was that Maggie?"

"I asked if you were alright Dr. Howser. Every now and again you'll just stare off into space for minutes at a time."

Doug sighed "yeah I'm alright Maggie, thanks for the concern."

The nurse started to turn away shaking her head at how stubborn men could be at times when his voice stopped her. "What if someone you cared about told you that they had a really dangerous job, something that would always come first in their lives."

Maggie turned back to face doctor Howser "do you believe that a job defines who you are?"

Doug thought for a moment "no, not really, but your job does help define your priorities in life."

"Your priorities yes, but it doesn't dictate who you are."

"So you're saying that what someone does with their life is only an incidental part of who they are."

"Exactly, now I'll admit that some jobs, like policeman or fireman or doctor, she said pointedly, have some built in drawbacks but if you truly care about a person then anything can be overcome. I guess the question you should be asking yourself is 'is she worth the effort'?"

Doug looked thoughtful for a moment letting his mind remember how she had looked during rehearsals, and all of the time that they had spent together. Suddenly he had the answer. It might have taken three days, but he was now certain about what he wanted. He turned to the charge nurse with the first genuine smile he had worn in a couple of days "thanks Maggie" he said and went back to work.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie was tired; she had just arrived back at her place after putting Gary on a plane for Chicago. She had enjoyed seeing him again. In her time in Denver she had forgotten about his wisdom and gentle good humor. Between Gary and Billy she had forgotten about her misery for an evening.

Ruthie had been surprised to discover that she had enjoyed her time with the young detective. Gary had told her to live her life and she thought that if Doug couldn't accept her life and the priorities that came with it then maybe Billy could. If nothing else he was fun to be around. As Ruthie topped the stairs, she could hear someone in her hallway; and Quark's play bark. Confused she opened the door from the stairs to her hallway, slipping a small bottle of pepper spray into her left hand. It almost fell from her hands when she saw who it was, her look of confusion morphed into a huge smile that seemed to light up the entire hallway. Wordlessly she ran to him as he rose and threw herself into his arms. After a sweet eternity, she looked up and asked "been waiting long"?

"Not long" he answered with a smile "Quark here kept me company."

She glanced briefly down at the happy little dog "he's good at that, so why are you loitering outside my door at night"?

"Because I have to tell you something".

"Couldn't it wait" she asked in a teasing tone.

"No" he said "it's too serious to wait."

"Could it be more serious than me telling you just how much in love with you I am?"

Now there was a huge smile lighting up his face as well "I'd say it's about equal, because I was going to tell you how very much in love with you I am."

"Despite my pastime" she said with a certain amount of trepidation.

"Hey, who better than a doctor to understand?"

Ruthie stared into his eyes for a moment and seeing the goodness and sincerity there leaned in and kissed him deeply. Startled at first, he was soon enthusiastically returning the kiss. They stayed that way for a minute or two, then slowly broke apart, almost as if they were afraid this was some sort of dream.

"It's late" Ruthie said "why don't you stay here tonight?"

Doug thought for a moment, but just a moment; and answered "could I stay here forever?"

"I don't see why not" Ruthie said, opening the door.


	9. New Beginings and Old Acquaintences

A/N I now know what writer's block is like, and I'm not ammused. I heartily apologize to any and all who have been reading the Denver Edition. I can only hope that I have not worn out your patience. I was tempted many times to just put a line under it, scribble 'the end' and move on; but it kept talking to me and so I have continued; with much aggravation and head pounding, and here are the results, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

POE1911

THE DENVER EDITION – CHAPTER 8

6:30 came way too early for Ruthie, but her alarm was not to be denied. That is until it shut off in mid ring. The young girl's eyes shot open, trying to figure out just what had caused this miracle. It was only then that she noticed the muscular chest that her head was resting on, and the events of the previous night came back to her. She opened her eyes and looked up at Doug's face. His eyes were closed, but he could tell that she was looking at him by the way her head had shifted.

"Why do you set your alarm so early" he asked.

Just then the answer was provided by the sound of a newspaper hitting the floor in the hallway outside her apartment door, followed by the sharp bark of a dog. Sighing heavily, Ruthie pulled herself out of bed and managed to make her way to the door where she picked up the paper and let Quark in. She then headed to the kitchen to get his breakfast while already perusing the paper. It looked to be a light day.

She stood in her kitchen for a moment and thought about the events of the night before. She had been so happy to see him waiting outside her door. She had invited him in, and they had stayed up to almost three talking. Mostly about her and the paper and the rules that went along with such a powerful tool. Ruthie could tell that Doug had been surprised at some of the things she did as a matter of course in her service to the paper, but she reminded him, that like a doctor, she did whatever she had to too get the job done. Doug had talked about himself, his childhood and how he had become a doctor. She wasn't surprised that he had been in a number of relationships, he was good looking in a boyish kind of way; but was shocked to learn that he hadn't even dated for almost two years. Ruthie got the impression that he wanted to tell her why, but the hour had grown too late. Doug had started to leave, but Ruthie reminded him that she had invited him to 'stay forever', and she hadn't changed her mind about that. So they got ready for bed and slept together, literally. There had been some snuggling, and some light kisses, but the evening hadn't been about physical displays, it had been deeper than that, it had been about caring and respect. They had slept in the same bed, but no hanky-panky had gone on, the two of them had just kept talking until they had fallen asleep. Ruthie tried to remember the last time she had spent the night in the same bed as a guy, and figure it was back when she was about ten, and had climbed into bed with Simon when she had had a bad dream. The one thought that had stayed with her was how seamlessly they had meshed; the awkwardness that accompanied most relationships as they started out just hadn't been there. It wasn't reduced or minimalized, it simply wasn't there; and to her way of thinking, that was an exceptionally rare thing.

Shaking herself back to the present, she went through the paper once more, and came to the happy conclusion that it would indeed be a light day; one that didn't start for her until 10:30. She would have to keep a couple of boys from racing their bikes across a busy street, and later stop a car accident, but that was all. She walked back into the bedroom, Doug was still laying in bed, his blue eyes were closed and Ruthie was almost hypnotized by the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Ruthie studied him for a moment, the lanky frame, the sandy hair and his high forehead. He really didn't look like anyone she had ever dated before. Quietly she made her way across the floor and sat down on the edge of the bed next to him. His eyes fluttered open at the bed's movement, and he looked up at Ruthie and smiled.

"So what do you want for breakfast" she asked.

"How much time do we have" he asked, obliquely referencing the paper.

"Nothing till 10:30" she answered with a grin.

"In that case, what I'm looking at seems pretty tasty" he said with the obligatory eyebrow waggle.

Ruthie just ducked her head and blushed, she was not used to guys being that forward. She looked up and gestured to her oversized T-shirt and old sweats "I'm not exactly dressed for breakfast" she said.

Doug quickly sat up and took Ruth in his arms "listen, I was only playing. I know you're not comfortable with the subject so whatever pace you want to go at is fine with me."

Ruthie held him tight in gratitude and thought for a moment. Finally she broke the hug saying "I said I wasn't dressed for breakfast, that's easily changed" adding a little eyebrow waggle of her own.

Doug just looked at her silently for a moment and then asked "are you sure"?

Ruthie just nodded and soon both of them were enjoying 'breakfast', quite a bit.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The save with the kids was almost too easy. She just pulled up and asked for directions, and one kid pedaled off while the other told her how to get where she was going. Just like that the paper was changed and a lot of pain was averted. Following the save, Ruthie went to the gallery. She was a little afraid of how Nif would take the news that she and Doug were seriously together. Jennifer tended to be very protective of her young friend, and Ruthie didn't want anything to come between their friendship. Reluctantly she got out of her SUV and headed in. Jennifer turned around when she heard the bell, and her face instantly transformed from pleasant inquiry to total joy when she saw who it was.

"So is it Doug" she asked.

Ruthie just stood there stunned for a moment and finally nodded.

Jennifer let out a rather girlish shriek and engulfed her friend in a hug. "I'm glad" Nif finally managed, you deserve some happiness. She let go of Ruthie and dropped back an arm's length or so and studied her young friend; something else was different. "So tell me about it."

"Well, I'd been waiting for some response after telling him about the paper, but I hadn't heard anything so I had decided to just move on. I went out and met this cop I'd saved at a bar. We had a pretty good time and danced and laughed; he was a nice guy. But then, when I went home Doug was waiting outside my door playing with Quark"; Ruthie's voice trailed off.

"Well" Nif asked, then when she saw her friend's expression she knew the rest of the story. "He spent the night, didn't he?"

Ruthie blushed a bit as she replied "yeah, but that really wasn't the plan. As soon as I realized who it was I was so happy, then immediately I was planning on ripping him a new one for being so pig-headed about everything, but when I looked into his eyes, the whole speech just went out the window. I know it sounds cliché, but it was just like those awful 'Harlequin Romance' novels you read, I just looked him in the eyes and knew."

"Knew what" Nif asked, although she believed she already knew the answer.

"That he's mine and I'm his."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Maggie watched as Dr. Howser went about his morning. She knew something had happened because he wasn't complaining about all the paperwork; in fact he was humming. She didn't recognize the tune, but the simple fact that he was happy while doing paper work convinced her that this was a good day to buy a lottery ticket. She watched as he signed his name with a flourish and closed the last folder. He picked up all the file folders on his desk and walked out into the ER office.

"Could you file these for me Janine" he asked one of the other nurses.

"Sure Doctor" she replied, "you sure seem to be in a good mood".

"I am Janine, and thanks for filing that stuff" he said and headed over to the duty station while still humming.

"So is it that pretty young artist" Maggie asked, coming up behind him.

Doug was startled for a moment, but then just turned to Maggie with a lazy kind of smile, a smile that warmed his whole face. "Yeah" he said quietly "it's her".

"Good" Maggie replied "she's a good girl and her hearts in the right place. So tell me what happened to turn you from Captain Ahab into Gandhi."

"Well" Doug started "she had told me some things about herself that I had to work through, but when I did I went to see her, but she wasn't in so I sat outside her apartment and waited. Her dog showed up and then. . . . . ."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"So what are you gonna do now" Nif asked.

"I guess just take it as it comes" Ruthie answered. "It's not like I've got a lot of former relationships to compare it to."

Jennifer was about to bestow some priceless advice from her stock of relationship experiences when the phone rang. With an exaggerated huff, she picked it up: "Camden Galleries".

"Hey Jenn, it's Mike down at the Post, is Ruthie there?"

"Yeah, she's right here, hang on" with that she passed the phone over to her young friend at the same time mouthing 'it's your editor' so Ruth would know who she was talking to.

"Mike, what can I do for you?"

"The higher ups and I had an idea and we wanted to see if you were OK with it."

"What kind of idea?"

"Just a new assignment, nothing bad; trust me."

Ruthie knew that those words usually meant that she was in deep, but she said "sure, when do you want me down there?"

"Can you be here in twenty minutes?"

"I can manage that" Ruthie said.

"Great, I'll see you in a few then."

Ruthie handed the phone back to Nif, with a sigh. She had been hoping to go to lunch with Doug, but now that was endangered because she had no idea how long this meeting would run. She left the gallery feeling like she was finally on top of her life; two and a half hours later, she was sitting in Bash Riprock's thinking that fate had an absolutely cruel sense of timing.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Could I sit here" a voice asked from behind Ruthie.

Ruthie closed her eyes and counted to ten, hoping that the voice's owner would just leave. When there were so signs of leaving she just shrugged, hoping that the indifference would send the other person away. But no such luck; the other person pulled out a chair and sank down into it, very cautiously. "I know you don't want to talk to me, and God knows you don't owe me anything, but I'm asking, no begging for five uninterrupted minutes. After that, if you want me gone I'm gone. I'll quit, leave the paper, leave town, whatever you want; I just want five minutes; please."

Ruthie thought for a second, then said "one answer will get you five minutes, if it's honest."

"Ask away" the other replied.

"Did you know about the job?"

"NO" was the immediate reply. "I knew you lived here, and I knew you worked for the paper. I applied for this job knowing that, but I never thought they'd actually want us to work together; that blindsided me almost as well as that right you threw."

Ruthie gave a little smile and said "OK, you just bought yourself five minutes, use em well."

"Don't worry" Janet Aguilera replied rubbing her jaw "I intend to."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

FLASHBACK

Ruthie walked through the main doors of the Denver Post and hurried past the security station, traffic had been bad and she was running late. She got to Mike's office, but his secretary told her that he was expecting her in the conference room one floor up. When she arrived she was surprised to find that not only was Mike here, but so were all the editors and even the editor in chief; and they were looking at her like she was a side-show attraction.

"Ruthie, come in and have a seat" Mike said.

Ruthie sat down warily; something was up, and she was pretty sure she wasn't gonna like it.

"First of all" the editor in chief spoke, as soon as she was seated "I just want you to know how happy we are with the work you've done for us so far."

"We were thinking" Mike jumped in "that it would be a good idea to pair you up with an up and coming reporter and have you two just doing human interest type stuff. It would be a twice a week feature, so your schedule would be a lot more fixed than it is now and your salary would remain the same. What do you think?"

"Well, I think it sounds like a good idea, depending on the reporter; is it someone I've worked with here?"

"No" Mike replied "we just hired her away from People magazine. She comes very highly recommended and has done some brilliant work in the past."

"I'm sure she's terrific" Ruthie said "but I can't give you a final answer til I meet her."

"Well just turn around because she's here."

Ruthie stood up and turned with a smile on her face. The smile quickly faded as she saw who precisely was coming through the door. Phil, the features editor was there, but more importantly so was Janet Aguilera. The girl looked both scared and hopeful, but this soon turned to dismay when she saw the look on Ruthie's face. Janet warily extended her hand as Ruthie took one step forward and let fly with a beautiful right cross that crashed into the reporter's jaw. Janet sat down heavily rubbing her jaw as Ruthie kept going right out the door and then out of the building. Janet finally looked up at a room full of shocked faces and with a grim smile said "I suppose its story time."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It had taken Janet a half hour or so to explain the situation to the editorial board and after that she had gone out looking for the young artist. It had taken a bit of time and a phone call or two, but she had discovered where the girl liked to hang out. But now that she had found the girl, she wasn't sure she had the guts to go over and try to make it right. Mustering her courage; Janet squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, said a quick prayer and walked over to the kid's table. "Can I sit here" she asked from behind the girl.

END FLASHBACK

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"My parents were migrant workers" Janet started "they moved all over the country; it was a fairly predictable pattern, but not exactly a stable home life." She held up a hand to cut off any comment Ruthie was about to make. "I'm not saying this to buy a pity vote, I just want you to understand where I'm coming from, OK?"

At Ruthie's silent nod, Janet continued.

"There were four of us kids along with them, we helped out when we could, or were allowed. Anyway, school was a hit or miss proposition. Despite that, I did my best to learn as much and as fast as I could. See, I knew I'd never be as pretty as my sister, or as strong and fast as my brother's, so I decided early on that I would be the smartest of the lot. That meant that even when I wasn't in school, I was reading anything I could get my hands on. To make a long story short, I graduated with honors and got a full ride to The University of Alabama at Birmingham. I graduated in four years with a Masters in Journalism and went to work. Up until Chicago, I'd never had anything but glowing recommendations." Janet sighed, took a swig of her beer and continued. "I had this image of myself, an image that painted me as an exceptional person. Let's face it, not many people could overcome the situation I was in and excel the way I have; so I believed myself to be superior to most of the people around me. Then I met this smart-mouthed art student; a kid that grew up with every advantage I had wished for; white skin, a great family, money, friends, you get the idea. And because of these advantages, it's easy for me to dismiss her as some silver-spoon princess and move on. But then this princess nearly looses her life saving mine. That shocked the hell out of me, just knowing how close you came to dying because you chose to save me. I could understand if we were family, or I was your friend, but you didn't even like me, and yet you didn't even hesitate. Talk about a wakeup call; it took that to make me see that all my ego about being exceptional was just bullshit. You were the exceptional person, and I couldn't understand it. Why would someone like you, risk everything for someone like me? That kind of a blow to my ego wasn't easy, so I rationalized it by thinking you were up to something, I figured no-one could be that good; you had to have a dark side that you were hiding; because truly good people are just as much a myth as the tooth fairy. Anyway, it's taken me this long to realize that there are truly good people in this world, and that you're one of them. I doubt it means anything to you, but thank you for saving my life back then, and I'm truly sorry for everything I did to you and what I put you and your friends through. I'm asking, no begging your forgiveness"

Janet looked at the table as if she were embarrassed by what she had just said; she took a quick pull at her beer and stole a furtive glance at the young artist, trying to read what she was thinking. What Janet could see was a mixture of surprise, anger and understanding. Finally Janet could see the other girl's face clear as she stood up.

"I believe I understand" Ruthie said "and I have only one question for you."

Janet raised her eyes in anticipation.

"You have asked for my forgiveness" Ruthie continued "but do you deserve it?"

All was silent for a moment, then Janet sighed "no, I don't deserve it". After saying this the reporter seemed to deflate and Ruthie turned to go; "but" she continued "I need it."

Ruthie turned back upon hearing this last bit; she had been ready to dismiss the reporter's apology as too little too late, but this last admission that the girl needed forgiveness stirred up something in Ruthie. What it boiled down to was that she couldn't deny anyone in need, if there was something she could do about it. Seeing the misery on the other woman's face just made it easier for Ruthie to say what she did. "I forgive you" she said to Janet. As the reporter's stunned eyes raised to meet hers, Ruthie continued "that's not saying I'm forgetting the pain you caused or the trust issues I have with you, those will take a while for me to deal with; but I can work with you and I do forgive you." With that she turned to leave, only to have the reporter's hand catch hers; she swung back around, her eyes catching Janet's and saw the relief and gratitude shining out of them. "Thank you" was all Janet could manage, but it was enough.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Doug was getting anxious standing outside the theater. Ruthie was late, and that worried the young man, knowing what he did about her 'hobby'. Finally she swept up and caught him in a warm embrace and planted a scorching kiss on him, right there in the middle of the sidewalk. Before he could say anything, she was talking a mile a minute.

"I want to apologize right now because I'm going to be pretty vicious during the first few scenes because I've got some anger to work through. But I want you to know it has nothing to do with you or anything you've done." With that she grabbed his hand and pulled him into rehearsal.

The only thing he could think was "life with her will never be dull" as he was led into the theater.


	10. True Confessions

THE DENVER EDITION – CHAPTER 9

One week, two assignments, that's how long it had been and Ruth Camden was a very confused young woman. After what had happened in Chicago, Ruthie had a certain image of Janet Aguilera in her mind; a person who was mean, cold, driving and heartless. But now that she was working with the girl, Ruthie found her to be intelligent, talented and pleasant. Ruthie knew that a bit of it was certainly feeling bad for what had happened in the past; but it was her experience that in those cases the offending party made some grand and melodramatic gesture and then went right back to being nasty; they were just not capable of changing their personalities so entirely. So she was facing the real possibility that she had completely misjudged the young reporter. Of course that didn't change what had happened, but it did put a new spin on the events, causing Ruthie to examine them from Janet's perspective. In the end, Ruthie was so confused that she called Chicago and Glen Oak for advice. Her parents had (predictably) told her to give the girl another chance, no questions asked. At the other end, Teressa had warned her to never turn her back on the reporter, and even offered to come down and punch the girl's lights out. Gary, Toni and Marissa had all been in the 'give her small chances to prove herself' camp, but as a whole they thought it was a mistake. The best talk Ruthie had was with Meredith. The editor gave her some background, not only on the girl but on the story as well; that cast a lot of the events into new light. Ruthie even asked Doug and Nif their opinions. They were both of the opinion that it had been a bad thing that had produced a good result, namely bringing her into their lives, and that she should trust her new partner. Ruthie wasn't a fool, she had seen the events in Chicago as a means to get her to Denver and start getting the paper; she knew that there was probably someone (or something) out there orchestrating the events, but that still didn't answer the question as to whether Janet was a bad person, or a good person who had made a pretty bad mistake. Reluctantly she realized that only time and interaction would answer that question, so for now she was trusting the young reporter, but keeping her eyes open.

The other reporters and staff at the post had already started referring to the two of them as 'the brats'; both in reference to their age and their 'leave us alone, we know what we're doing' attitudes. Ruthie found it funny, and Janet found it annoying; but neither one could stop being true to themselves so the attitudes and nicknames remained.

It was late on a Tuesday afternoon and they were wrapping up assignment number three when Janet asked "now that we're finished, you wanna hit a bar and kick back a bit?" She had been making overtures like this for a few days, but she was always shot down. She didn't know if she and the artist chick would ever be friends, but she was at least willing to try. Unfortunately it seemed like the artist wasn't willing to meet her halfway.

Ruthie glanced at her watch and said "normally yeah, but I've got to get to rehearsal."

Now this was a new one for Janet, 'rehearsal' for what? "What're you rehearsing?"

"I'm in a play 'Much Ado about Nothing' and the performance is this Saturday and Sunday."

"So on top of everything else, you're an actress too?"

"Just an amateur one" Ruthie replied "I got started with it in Chicago."

"So other than you, anyone I know in this thing?"

"I doubt it; we're all amateurs, just doing it because we love it."

"So you're not getting paid for this" Janet asked.

"Nope, just for the experience."

In Janet's head, a huge neon light that said 'story' was going off. What kind of people chose to act in their spare time, and what kind of people made a living from directing amateur actors. Making a decision she jumped up and asked "you mind if I tag along"?

Ruthie looked startled for a second "why would you" then she paused and caught the look on her partner's face "you're thinking story here aren't you Ags?"

Janet looked a little embarrassed "yeah, I am. I was wondering what kind of people did this, you know; acted just for the love of the thing. And did it knowing they'd never make Hollywood or Broadway or anywhere like that. I think it would make an exceptional story, but I'd like to see what's going on and get everyone's permission first."

That last statement both surprised and decided Ruthie "well get your stuff and come on then" she said to the young Latina.

Janet gave a smile that lit up her face, grabbed her bag and followed Ruthie out the door. "So how did you get started in all this" she asked as they headed towards the theater.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"So you weren't originally supposed to be in the play, you were just doing the scenery and stuff" Janet asked as the two of them were approaching the theater.

"Yeah, but then one of the actresses got transferred and suddenly everyone was looking at me to fill in."

"So how was it?"

"Not bad for the most part, the problem was I had to kiss Reggie."

"Reggie"

"Sophie's fiancé. He was playing a suitor of Sophie's character. So when Sophie was in the play there was no problem with the kissing, but then I had to kiss him. Let me tell you, that was weird."

Janet started laughing, and Ruthie soon joined her; but then the young artist looked up and saw who was standing outside the theater waiting for her. Without another word, but keeping the smile on her face she ran and jumped into Doug's arms kissing him vigorously. Janet just stood there bemused at two people who were obviously in love with each other. As she was snuggling into Doug's arms, Ruthie suddenly remembered that she was not alone. Quickly stepping back and turning, she said "Janet, this is my boyfriend Doug Howser. Doug, this is Janet, the girl I work with at the paper."

Doug's mental eyebrows went up at this revelation, so the person responsible for the 'Chicago situation' was now coming to play practice. Doug knew that Ruthie was still conflicted over the young reporter; and though he was happy with what had eventually come of Janet's actions, he still harbored some anger over the pain she had caused Ruthie. But in the interest of tranquility he decided to make nice, well as nice as possible. He took a step forward and extended his hand "nice to meet you" he said in a pleasant but non-committal tone.

For her part, Janet was surprised to be getting off this easy, she figured that the boyfriend would have had her roasting on a spit by now, or at least given her a good death glare. But he did none of those things, he was polite, without being overtly friendly; and Janet was impressed. "Pleased to meet you as well, doctor Howser" she replied, shaking his hand.

"So what brings you down here" Doug asked the young reporter.

"Well, when Camden told me what she did in her spare time, I thought it might make a good story."

"What about it would make a good story?"

"The people involved, why they act. It isn't for the money or for the fame; they all have other jobs, I assume, so why take time out of your life to do something like this. That's the story I want to tell. Like you, you're a doctor, a job that takes up a lot of your life, so why are you here, doing amateur theater?"

Doug looked a little sheepish for a moment then answered "a patient of mine told me that I needed to get a life, so I took her advice."

As he was speaking, Janet saw the blush rising up his neck and cheeks. She could guess who that patient had been. "Exactly, so if everyone agrees, I'd like to do a story on the company and the director; a profile piece, not a review of the production."

"Well then, let's go ask" Ruthie said, headed towards the theater door.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

That evening they were sitting in Bash Riprock's kicking back and having a good time. Nif had shown up and Janet had stayed with them, there were also a few members of the cast that had come along as well.

Janet was a little surprised at how things were progressing here in Denver. Upon reflection she realized it was the smartest move she had ever made, just above working under Carson. It wasn't just the professional opportunity, before coming to Denver, she had never felt accepted by or close to the people around her, even her family. But here she was tight with her co-workers and it felt like she was beginning to develop a circle of friends. The irony that the person most responsible for this was also the person with the most reason to hate her was not lost on Janet. She still had trouble resolving the fact that Ruth Camden had put their mutual past behind her and was giving Janet a second chance. Janet continued to have difficulty believing that people like that still existed in the world, evidence to the contrary aside. Her story idea had originally been a cover, so she could observe Ruth in a different setting, hoping to prove that the girl was sincere; but it had blossomed into what could potentially be a great story. She had spoken to many members of the cast and was blown away as much by their enthusiasm as by their different occupations. The man playing Don Pedro was a plumber, Hero was a legal secretary, Claudio drove a UPS truck, and Ursula was a housewife named Barb that had begged her name to not be included in the story. Janet had agreed but asked the woman why she didn't want to be mentioned. "It's my husband" she had replied.

"What, he doesn't want you doing this, or something that takes you out of the house" Janet then asked, getting a bit upset.

"No" the woman replied "It's just the opposite. He's so supportive and enthusiastic that he'd be down here disrupting things and being a nuisance. So he thinks I'm taking a class at the community college."

Janet chuckled a bit at that "you know, I think that's the first time I've ever heard a wife say her husband was too attentive and caring."

Barb chuckled a bit herself "he is a great guy, it's just that sometimes I wish he weren't so enthusiastic. Our sons keep asking him to be quiet at their soccer games. The rest of the parents call him 'the cheerleader'."

They had talked about other things for a while, but as Barb walked away, Janet smiled to herself, realizing that this was just one story, and there were quite a few and each one would be unique. She also found it funny that nearly the entire cast referred to Ruth and Doug as 'the lovebirds'; she would have to use that one at work some time. Now as she raised her glass and looked around at the people with her, she didn't see a group of nameless would be actors, but a group of people from different classes and ethnicities that were united by their love of something. She also saw a group of potentially close friends and that scared her a little.

"You know" Janet said "I've never been to a play before; I can't believe how neat it was."

"You mean you never went to a play while you were living in New York" Doug asked.

"When were you in New York" Ruthie asked before Janet could answer.

"When I worked for People magazine" Janet replied.

"You worked for People" Marcia the legal secretary asked.

"Yeah, just before I came out here" Janet said.

"Wait a minute" Ruthie said "did you come up with that 'Pixie Picasso' line they used about me."

The rest of the group broke out laughing as Janet looked a bit chagrined "yeah, I used that term to sell the story, after that I kept trying to edit it out, and the higher-ups kept putting it back in. Sorry Camden."

"I guess it's OK" Ruthie grumped "just don't try any of that cutesie crap on any of our stories or you will be in deep poo, are we clear" this last coming out with mock severity.

"Yes mother" Janet said, rolling her eyes.

"So anyway" Doug said after the laughter at the antics of the pair died away "back to the original subject, why didn't you go to any plays while you were in New York?"

"It's just nothing I've ever done" Janet replied "growing up my folks were migrant workers, so there wasn't a lot of time or money for things like plays, and we weren't in school enough to be involved in productions or anything like that. Sneaking in to movies was about the limit of our cultural education."

"So with that kind of background, how'd you end up working as a journalist" Steve the UPS driver asked.

Janet looked a bit uncomfortable but continued "I was kind of the runt of my family, not the youngest, just the smallest. So as far as they were concerned I wasn't as 'valuable' as my larger and stronger and faster sister and brothers. So I figured that if I couldn't be the strong one or the fast one, I'd be the smart one. After I realized that, I was reading all the time; books, magazines, newspapers, anything I could get my hands on. Even with all the moving we did I managed to keep up with school. When I graduated I received a scholarship to the University of Alabama at Birmingham that was targeted at migrants. I had loved reading so much I decided to study journalism while I was there. Four years later I graduated and the rest is history."

"What about your family" Marcia asked "what did they think of you graduating college?"

Janet took a second to compose herself "towards the end of my freshman year I got a letter from them that said they were going to Texas. They never bothered to leave an address, or a phone number or anything. I haven't seen or spoken to them since."

Silence reigned around the table for a moment or two, the meaning of Janet's words sinking in. She saw the expressions and anticipated the response "guys don't get too worked up about it; I came to terms with it a long time ago." The expression on everyone's faces shifted a bit, and no-one offered commiseration or expressions of sympathy, but the looks she received spoke volumes and warmed her heart. Seeing that everyone was still a bit uncomfortable though, Janet decided to change the topic. "So doc, you ever done anything like this before?"

"Once" Doug answered "almost ten years ago. My best friend decided that he needed some moral support while he was taking this acting class, so I got conscripted. We never actually got to the point where we were doing anything for an audience, but we did bits for the other students to critique."

"Could I talk to him" Janet asked "take a now verses then angle on your story?"

"NO" Doug nearly shouted, clearly agitated "that isn't possible."

Janet was clearly taken aback, but tried to hide it "no problem doc, you don't want me digging, I won't dig."

Doug could hear the hurt in her tone and could see how the others were upset by his attitude so he tried to recover a bit "I know, it's just that he and I . . . . it's still sore."

Everyone could hear the pain in Doug's tone, so they let it be. The topic was soon turned to more pleasant matters and eventually everyone left in a good mood, ready for the first dress rehearsal the next day.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When they got back to her place, Ruthie invited Doug up, she was wondering what the situation was with him and his friend. She went to the kitchen and fixed Doug and herself some tea. When she took it out to him, he was staring out the window, his mind a million miles away. Ruthie handed him the mug and he took it, but his eyes never acknowledged her and his mind was still far far away.

"Doug" she said, finally.

"Yeah Ruth"

"Do you want to talk about him?"

He sighed, it was a sound she recognized, the sound of a painful event being dredged up from where it had been deeply buried. "Not really, but I probably should" he replied sipping idly at his tea. "His name was Vincent DelPino, but everyone except my dad called him Vinnie. He was my friend for as long as I could remember. He was just about the only one that didn't treat me differently because of my cancer or the whole genius thing. Anyway, I grew up to be a doctor, and Vinnie was an artist. He tried lots of different areas, but murals ended up being what he was best at. Hospitals, schools, highways, he painted his murals wherever someone paid him to. The other thing he did was community work. A friend of ours, Ray, was this former gang banger; so Vinnie decides that he can use art to reach some of these kids and change their lives. It was working too, he was really reaching these kids, the kind that no-one had ever reached out to before."

"So what happened?"

"He was killed" Doug replied with a hitch in his voice "the mural he was working on covered up some gang's graffiti. They decided that they were being dissed and decided to get some pay back. So they shot Vinnie and the two guys helping him. I was supposed to be there, but I was wiped out from a long shift in the ER. I didn't even know he was dead until the next day. I could have been there with him, maybe saved him, or at least let him know he wasn't alone, but I was tired and he died alone on a street. The guys with him lived but Vinnie died." Ruthie could see the tears pouring down his cheeks. "They eventually caught the guys and they're in jail now, but Vinnie's still dead, and I can never tell him how much his friendship meant to me."

He finished off his tea and slammed the mug down onto the table next to him. Ruthie could see his knuckles were white where they gripped the mug, and she could also see the muscles twitching in his face. Wordlessly she came over to him and just held him. She didn't try to offer words of comfort or mouth any trite expressions of sympathy; she just held him and hoped that he felt how much she cared about him. Slowly she could feel his muscles relax their clinch, and he was soon returning her embrace. Without exchanging a word, the two got up, turned out the lights and went to bed where they fell asleep in each other's arms. As he was drifting off Doug hoped his nightmares didn't return.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next couple of days were pretty busy for Ruthie. She had a lot of little saves, and then rehearsal way into the night so she was tired most of the time. But in what little free time she had, she was trying to get Doug to open up a bit more about Vinnie. It was slow going, as she tried to strike a balance between being concerned and being pushy. And it seemed to be working, Doug was opening up to her and even amusing her for hours with the tales of what they had done together. All in all she thought he was dealing better than he had been and was actually starting to face his guilt.

Saturday morning finally arrived, and with it, the paper as usual. Ruthie took one look at it on the ground, and let her curiosity get the better of her for once. After all she was a human being. Swiftly turning to the entertainment section she went looking for a review of the play. She found it, but what immediately grabbed her attention was the article below it.

_ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE_

_By Janet Aguilera Pictures by Ruth Camden_

_It would be difficult to find a more diverse group of people, ages that range from 22 to 58, every race is represented, most major ethnic groups have a member or two in this group, and they are from all walks of life; Doctor, Plumber, Secretary and Housewife. They are led by a person that hasn't had a permanent home in over 30 years and are together for a single reason; their love of the theater. But these are not patrons, no; they are regular people who become actors and actresses in their spare time. They don't do it for the money or the glory; there are no dreams of Oscars or Emmys or Tonys, they do it for the shear love of the work. This is the world of the amateur theater troop. There are groups like this in every major, and many minor cities in America. On the playbill they are always listed as performers or artists, but I believe that these are incorrect labels. I believe that instead of artist, they are art, they and their lives are windows, opening onto, and revealing various facets of the tableau that is human existence. Story and pictures continued on page D9_

'Never let it be said that you aren't a major talent Ags' Ruthie thought to herself. She went back and read the review and then finished Janet's article as she sat down at the kitchen table. She was checking through to see what required her attention today when suddenly there were a pair of hands over her eyes.

"Guess who"

"Brad Pitt"

"Close, but not quite"

"Justin Timberlake"

"Wrong again"

"The best looking doctor in Denver"

"I guess third time really is the charm" Doug said as he leaned over and kissed Ruthie warmly. "So how do we do" he asked looking at the entertainment section.

"Pretty well" Ruthie replied "and Janet wrote a great article. You know, this has been fun, but I'm looking forward to just getting back to normal and only having to worry about the paper and the gallery."

"I know what you're saying" Doug replied as he perused the front page.

They ate breakfast and read in comfortable silence for a few minutes, until Ruthie got up to take a shower.

"I forgot to tell you" Doug said with his nose burried in the sports "my folks called the other day, and they're coming up for Thanksgiving."

"Thanksgiving" Ruthie asked; distress evident in her voice.

"Yeah" Doug answered, missing her tone "they say they're really looking forward to meeting you."

'So much for normal' Ruthie thought as she headed off to the shower.


	11. Meeting more Parents

THE DENVER EDITION – CHAPTER 10

David Howser was worried, but not for the usual reasons. As a doctor he had a lot of things to worry about, his practice, his colleagues, his patients and just the steady course of old father Time, which sometimes brought terrible things with its advancements. What he wasn't used to worrying about was his son. He had worried plenty about Douglas when the boy was younger, with the cancer and all; but after he survived that, David had pretty much stopped worrying. He figured that if Douglas could weather that storm, there wasn't much out there that could hurt him seriously. And he had kept thinking that right up until the time Vincent had been killed.

Then he had seen his son almost destroyed by grief. The key word there was almost. Douglas had weathered this storm as well, but he certainly hadn't come out of it unscathed. David knew that his son's commitment to his career had waned. He figured it would only be a matter of a few months before Douglas just called it quits and found a new direction for his life. That had been two years ago, and Douglas had not quit, but at the same time he had not changed, neither for the better nor the worse. It was as though he was locked in some sort of emotional holding pattern, waiting for something, or trying to come to grips with a decision that he didn't want to make. Then out of the blue he had called. Called home and invited them to come to Denver for Thanksgiving. To be honest, they hadn't seen much of each other in the last two years, and when they had it had been either David or Catherine initiating the contact, and they had never been asked to come to Denver. That was worrying by itself, but what David had found more disturbing was Douglas' demeanor.

He didn't sound anything like the young man that David had known for the past two years. A change that fundamental could mean many things, most of them bad. So as David helped his wife off of the plane at Denver International, he found himself profoundly worried for his son for the first time in quite a while.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Mike Greenberg was having a terrible day. He had just gotten back to his place at 7 AM (Mike worked the third shift at a warehouse), when he discovered that Dave Gerhard, his weasely shit of a bookie, had sold Mike's marker to Cappy Linstrom. Cappy was a local "entrepreneur" of note who had gotten his nickname from his hobby of breaking the knee caps of the people that owed him money with a ball peen hammer. From this it is safe to assume that Cappy was not a member of the local chamber of commerce.

Sure Mike owed about six grand, and true he had stiffed Dave a couple of times, but this was the big leagues and Mike frankly couldn't believe that this had happened to him. Had it been someone he didn't know, he probably would be laughing his ass off at the poor schmuck's predicament, but it wasn't quite so funny when he was the schmuck.

What made it worse was that unlike the times before, he really didn't have the money this time, and he had no idea about getting what he owed before six tonight, when Cappy had told him his marker would be due. So with the prospect of agonizing pain and the possible humiliation of having the nick-name of "hop-along" for the rest of his life; Mike's brain went into overdrive trying to figure out how he could get six grand in under twelve hours.

Unfortunately for all, he could only come up with one answer; crime. He figured it would be easy, after all criminals were idiots, so how hard could it be for a guy like him. He decided that mugging would be the easiest and safest (for him) route to go. He was a big guy, standing about six four, and tipping the scales at two sixty eight, so being a mugger should work for him. He would hide in an alley, wait until a single female walked past, jump out and knock her on the head to disorient her and grab her purse; no muss, no fuss. He quickly gathered what he figured he would need, a pillow case for the loot, a sock with some rocks in it for whacking people on the head and a knife; just in case his size alone didn't scare someone enough. Carrying his weaponry and having an idea of where to hunt in his head, Mike headed out confident that by the end of the day, his problems would be over.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruth Camden was frustrated. Actually frustrated was an enormous understatement; calling Ruthie frustrated at the moment was like calling a super-nova slightly warm.

Once the play had been over, Ruthie had been looking forward to slowing down a bit and working more on her relationships, with Doug of course but especially with Nif. When it came to Nif, Ruthie was feeling guilty over the way she'd been treating her friend. She'd been practically ignoring the gallery and Nif as well lately; between the play, Doug and her new job with the paper, Ruthie barely had time for anything else. So she had been wanting some time with just her and Nif, like it had been before her life had gotten complicated. But it seemed as though the paper wasn't going to allow that. Every day since the play ended Ruthie had been running all over Denver practically from dawn til midnight; and none of the saves were minor, like a simple fender bender or fistfight where no-one is hurt seriously, no every save had been crucial. Just like the one she was running to right now _'Mugging Victim in Coma'_. Apparently a Mrs. Gertrude Weldon wasn't going to go along with just letting a mugger take her purse, and fight back. The mugger, aggravated that he was being forced to actually work hard for what he got, was going to retaliate by slamming her head into the wall and putting her into a coma. 'Not today Buckaroo' Ruthie thought as she headed towards where the paper said the mugging was going to take place.

As she approached the alley, she could hear the sounds of a struggle going on, as she rounded the entrance she saw a small, blue haired old lady hanging on to her purse with all the tenacity of a pit bull, and a grimy behemoth trying to separate her from it. Knowing that this wasn't going to end well, Ruthie started towards the pair and yelled "leave her alone".

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Mike was discovering, much to his chagrin; that being a mugger was a lot tougher than he had thought it would be. He had started out well, finding good concealment in an alley that allowed him to closely observe passers-by without their knowing that he was close, and it was near another alley that was narrow and dark; in other words perfect for what he needed. After that everything kinda went south. His first and most glaring mistake was that he was doing this during the day, and in the middle of the city. That should have been enough to clue him into the fact that this would not end well. Then his first "victim" heard him coming and ran. He chased her but missed with the loaded sock. Then instead of finding a new location, he just went back to where he had been and waited some more. While he was just settling down again, his first mark was filling in a beat cop on what had almost happened to her. Not knowing about this unfortunate development, Mike scoped out his second victim. This one didn't hear him coming, and the strike with the sock worked just as he had hoped, she was shaken up without being unconscious or anything. He had gotten her into the alley easily enough, but then the old bag had started to come around a lot quicker than he had hoped. Then she just refused to let go of her purse. He didn't know why, but she was holding on to it tighter than Carmen Electra's jeans, and had made it clear that she wasn't about to let it go without a fight. He had just come to the reluctant conclusion that a bit more "persuasion" would be necessary when he heard a voice yell "leave her alone". 'Just great' Mike thought 'some do-gooder had to stick her nose where it wasn't needed' as he reached for his knife.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie yelled and the man pulled a knife; after seeing that, Ruthie only saw red. It was strange, when she tried to describe it later the closest she could come to was an out of body experience as though her conscious mind was just floating somewhere above watching her body do what it did.

The first thing she did was launch an ax kick to the mugger's right wrist. She felt the impact, heard a gasp of pain and the sound of breaking bones followed by the clatter of the knife hitting the alley's pavement. In all honesty she probably would have stopped there, but for whatever reason the mugger wanted to go a second round. To this end, he took a swing at her; it was a powerful, but fairly slow and clumsy swing which she was easily able to avoid. As the punch was whistling harmlessly above her head, she determined that the next logical step would be to render the mugger incapable of pursuit should she choose to run; so the obvious action would be a heel stomp to break the mugger's foot. This is exactly what she did smashing her heel into the goon's left foot; and as the thug started to bend over in agony, Ruthie jumped up and smashed her forehead into the mugger's face, breaking his nose and ending any thoughts he might have had about continuing the fight. As the mugger started to fall backwards Ruthie helped him along with a shove and then jumped on the large mans chest and ended up straddling him as he hit the ground. Ruthie cocked her right and let fly when she saw an opening, yelling about attacking harmless old women. She had re-cocked her right and was looking for another opening while still yelling when she heard the word "freeze".

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Pete Mitchell had been walking his beat when a lady had come up to him with some fantastic story about how some moron was trying to be a mugger on a crowded street in the middle of the day. On the off chance that the lady wasn't some paranoid whack-job, Pete went to check out what he'd been told; what he saw made his day. He had heard a voice yell something, and when he could see into the alley he watched as a fairly petite young woman kicked some huge guy in the wrist, forcing the behemoth to drop the knife he had been holding due to a broken wrist; Pete had heard the bone snap, which was surprising since the girl had been going on in some non-stop rant about attacking old women. The kick had been followed by a heel stomp and a head butt in rapid succession, the results of which were the big guy was on the ground and the girl was straddling his chest and it looked like she was prepared to beat the goon to death. After the first shot, Pete could not in good conscience let this go on any further and yelled "freeze"; surprisingly the girl actually stopped.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

If it hadn't been for the cop, Ruthie would probably have kept on hitting the creep until either he was dead or her arm wouldn't swing any more. Fortunately for both, he did come along and by getting her to stop, reminded Ruthie of the most important person in the whole equation; the victim. The young woman got up and moved over to where the victim was still leaning against the wall, a shocked expression on her face. After seeing what Ruthie was capable of, the younger woman's approach only served to scare the victim making Mrs. Weldon cower at Ruthie's approach. Seeing this almost broke the young artist's heart; it cut her deeply, seeing the person she was trying to save cringe away from her in fear. She stopped and spoke to the older woman "I'm here to help Mrs. Weldon, I'm sorry if I frightened you, but I wanted to make sure that he didn't hurt anyone else."

Gertrude, Trudy to her friends, looked up at the sound of the voice and instead of the furious whirling dervish that she had expected; she just saw a young girl with caring and earnest eyes. It was the eyes that convinced her, Trudy was one of those people that did believe that they were windows to the soul and from what she could see, the soul in front of her was one of the good ones. Looking up further Trudy saw a fresh faced policeman standing over the man that had attacked her, but still watching the young brunette just in case. "I'm sorry miss; I guess I'm just not used to this kind of excitement."

The young girl smiled back at her, transforming her face from one that could be described as cute, to one of extraordinary beauty "I'm sorry as well, I usually don't cause this much excitement. And I am sorry you were scared, but please believe that I would never hurt you."

Seeing the trust bloom in the older woman's eyes, Ruthie turned and asked the policeman "did you call for an ambulance?" Pete just shook his head and asked "do you think we need one?"

"Absolutely, Mrs. Weldon here took a couple of hard knocks to the head and 'Capone' down there has a broken wrist, a broken foot and a broken nose."

Realizing that the girl was right, and that the threat was over, he holstered his Beretta and used his radio to call for an ambulance to transport the two injured people. Ruthie had taken the opportunity to check the paper to see if everything was now OK. She was appalled to read "Mugging Victim Dies in Hospital". She hadn't gotten to what exactly went wrong when the cop's radio went off. He listened for a moment and then looked up; it was obvious that he was trying to make a difficult decision.

Knowing that getting Trudy to the Hospital was her first priority, Ruthie realized that whatever was happening might get in the way of that she walked up and asked "is there anything I can do to help"?

Officer Mitchell looked up at the young woman and said "there's an 'all officers' situation near here, but I've got to stay with you folks."

"Why don't you cuff him" Ruthie said as she dug her heel into Mike's side "and give me the keys. I'll ride in with the two of them and take the cuffs off at the Hospital."

Pete was considering it. The suggestion made sense except for the fact that he could possibly be letting a criminal roam free after being caught. That wouldn't be such a good thing for his career; but the girl's next words decided him.

"Why don't you call Sergeant Faraday, my name is Ruth Camden and Billy'll vouch for me."

The thing was, Pete Mitchell knew Billy Faraday, they were pretty good friends even. He had heard Billy tell the story about the girl that had saved his life, and now he was talking to her. Knowing that Billy would indeed vouch for the girl he bent down and snapped the cuffs on the goon and handed Ruthie the keys. He flashed her a smile as he headed off "try and get those back to me, OK."

"Will do and you be careful Pete." She watched the young officer head off, then turned back and got back to the business of making sure that Mrs. Weldon stayed alive.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Doug could feel them. It wasn't some trick, he didn't smell any distinct perfume or cologne, he just knew that when he looked up his parents would be there. And when he did, they were. He saw them in the doorway of the ER and immediately moved over and hugged them both. He stepped back and took them both in. It had been too long since he'd seen them, but at least to his eyes they didn't look any different. For a second he wondered again how they had managed to both get together and then stay together. They were so different from each other, at least on the outside. 'If life were a movie' Doug thought 'then my Mom would be the head cheerleader and my Dad would be the stuffy but caring librarian'. But he also knew that inside they were both deeply caring people. It was their relationship that had first clued him in to looking below the surface of people to see how they really were. "Mom, Dad; what are you guys doing here. I thought you weren't coming in till after my shift?"

Catherine looked at her son for a moment. There hadn't been the anger or bitterness that might have been present six months ago. Nor was there the palpable aura of grief that Doogie had seemed to wear ever since Vinnie died. His question had been simple inquiry, nothing less and that was very surprising. "We wanted to see where you worked and how you ran the place" she answered with sincerity.

"Cool" Doug replied "one less trip through Denver traffic"; then turning and gesturing with his arm he said "in that case let me show you the best ER in the state of Colorado."

For his part David was surprised at his son's relaxed manner. In the not so distant past, Doug would have been livid at the thought of his parents checking up on him; but here he had been calm and pleasant. The pride in the job he was doing and the people he worked with that was evident in his son's every word and movement was not a surprise.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

They had nearly finished the tour when Maggie called Doug over. "We've got one coming in, two people a mugger and his victim." Hearing this, Doug forgot about his parents for the moment and started getting ready for the incoming ambulance. Without a word to his parents, Doug changed from smiling enthusiasm to cold eyed professional. David stood back and watched as everyone moved briskly without rushing. It was clear that everyone knew what they were doing as they moved in what seemed to be a complicated dance as they got the ER ready for whatever came through the doors. As this was going on, Doug was checking the printouts of the vital statistics of the incoming patients. He could not understand the spikes in heart rate that were occurring in the male patient, so he ordered a cardiac cart to be on hand, just in case.

Everything was ready until the ambulance pulled up and dumped chaos into their laps. The two patients and the EMT's were expected, but the energetic young woman with a pair of handcuffs on one arm was a shock. Before the emergency workers could get a word in edgewise, Ruthie was dictating what should be done for the older woman. Completely cowed, the nurses and technicians leapt to do exactly what she had said without consulting the doctors; they knew the voice of command when they heard it. As they were leading the older woman away, the young man spoke up "you don't tell them a thing, you hear me".

Like a striking cobra, the young woman turned on him, her face a mask of fury, the look in her eyes promising hellfire, damnation, and long periods in traction "just shut your mouth right now or I'll grab the first scalpel I can and perform elective surgery all over your body" she growled.

Despite the fact that he was much larger the man shrank back and shut his mouth with an audible snap. It was obvious that he was scared of Ruthie and his reaction elicited smiles from the EMT's and most of the staff. The one man not smiling was David Howser; he could not believe such unprofessional behavior from a police woman, not to mention that the hospital staff had immediately deferred to her and not Douglas. He decided to have words with the young woman as soon as he could.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie had been sitting with the older woman since she had arrived at the hospital. The young artist could tell how scared she was, as was doing her best to keep Mrs. Weldon calm and cheerful by telling stories about her misadventures in Chicago. Trudy had responded by telling Ruthie about the doings of her grandchildren. Ruthie was just getting ready to start another one when Maggie and another nurse walked in; the room temperature immediately seemed to drop. "We need to do another MRI" Maggie said, her tone apologetic but firm.

"Do you want me to come with" Ruthie asked Gertrude.

"No dear" she said, reaching out for the younger girl's arm "I'll be fine now. You go do whatever you need to do, I'm in good hands."

"Alright then" Ruthie replied and stood back while Maggie and the other nurse wheeled the old lady out of the room. Ruthie stood there a moment thinking about what had happened that morning. She was proud and shocked at how she had handled the mugger. Proud that she had been able to physically handle such a large individual, but she was also shocked at how angry she had been and how close she had come to simply letting that rage take over. Her introspection was interrupted when she heard someone clear their throat. She looked up to see a man standing in the doorway. He was of medium height and weigh with dark hair cut short and receding. He also had a rather severe expression on his face.

"Yes" Ruthie said tentatively.

"I would like to speak with you if I may" he replied.

Despite the severity of his tone Ruthie almost had to laugh. His precise, clipped way of speaking was almost British. If it wasn't for the lack of accent she would have pegged him as the perfect butler. "Concerning" was her only verbal response, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"Your conduct here" he replied. "I was appalled at your lack of professional manner and your complete disregard for the chain of command. You threatened an injured man with grievous bodily harm, you gave instructions to people that were not under your jurisdiction and you apparently caused the injuries that landed the poor man here in the first place. There is simply no excuse for that kind of behavior and I will reluctantly be communicating my feelings to your superiors later."

"My superiors" Ruthie asked, not sure what the old guy was blathering on about.

"Yes, your superiors. What is your name and badge number please?"

It was then that Ruthie understood, the guy thought that she was a cop. This assumption ticked her off a little, but what really got to her was the complete lack of thanks in the man. She had prevented someone from being mugged and then saved the old lady again by warning the hospital staff about a complication that they usually wouldn't look for. She didn't do what she did for the thanks, but this level of disregard was beyond belief. She could feel the anger boiling up within her, so she let it out at the most convenient target.

"Let me ask you something doctor" she said with a sneer in her voice "do you often diagnose your patients with such inadequate information and do you often make such wild and inaccurate leaps of deduction; because if you do, then I feel very sorry for your patients. First and foremost I am not a police officer or anyone else officially sanctioned by the state or city." Now her voice began to rise and she started moving in the offending man's direction "I'm just the person that was there to stop the mugging in the first place. I'm just the person that had to listen to the rantings of that jerk the entire time we were in the ambulance. I'm just the person that happened to notice the victim losing her manual dexterity which is an indication of an injury to the left side of the brain, even though it wasn't the side she was hit on; and pass that information on to the staff here. I'm just the person that sat with her because the rest of her family lives in North Carolina." The guy had backed away till he was in a corner, and now Ruthie was jabbing her finger into his chest when she made her points. "I didn't do it for money or for notoriety or for any reason other than I was just helping out. I don't expect thank you's, although they are nice to hear. Instead I get bombarded by your bogus conclusions and self-righteous attitude. Well as politely as I can put it, you can go screw yourself and just hope to God that you don't need help when I'm the only one around to provide it, because that will be one heck of a wait."

When she finished she was practically yelling, and the entire ER was listening in, needless to say this brought official attention. Ruthie looked up as both Doug and one of the duty cops ran into the room. Calmly she turned and took the cuffs off her arm and pitched them to the surprised cop. "Make sure Pete Mitchell gets his cuffs back" she said, and then walking past Doug she said "I've got a couple of errands to run so I'll see you later." And with that she was out the door, leaving three very perplexed men in her wake. The cop left to track down Officer Mitchell and David turned to his son and asked "who the devil was that"?

Doug just smirked at his dad a moment and said "that was Ruth Camden, my girlfriend".

"Please tell me you're kidding son."

"Wish I could, what did you say that ticked her off that much?"

David looked a bit sheepish when he looked at his son and said "I thought she was a police woman and asked for her name and badge number so I could report her un-professional conduct".

Doug rolled his eyes at his father's conduct "well that's gonna make tomorrow extra special."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie finished up with the paper at about four in the afternoon and called Doug to tell him that she had something to do that night and she would see him on Thursday. Then she picked up some Chinese take out and headed for the Gallery. She walked in, and there was Nif, just like always. As soon as she saw her friend Ruthie felt bad. She felt as though she'd been taking advantage of her friend for some time now and decided that tonight was just for them. "Hey Nif, feel like Chinese tonight?"

Jennifer looked up to see her friend with Chinese take out containers in her hand and asked "if I said no, would it matter"?

"Sure it would, I'd just put these in the fridge and we'd get whatever was floating your boat."

"So what's with the royal treatment" Jennifer asked with a smile.

"This is the 'I feel like dirt because I've been ignoring my friend' treatment, I hope you like it."

Jennifer looked at her friend for a moment, digesting what Ruthie had just said. "Chinese sounds great" was her only reply, well that and a face splitting grin.

They were still talking four hours later; after all they had a lot of catching up to do. "So this jerk thinks I'm a cop and is gonna chew me out for my 'un-professional conduct'."

"So you ripped him a new one."

Ruthie looked a bit ashamed "yeah, I did".

"Sounds like he had it coming" Nif replied "but for Doug's sake you probably ought to make nice the next time you see him. After all you don't want to give your boyfriend a pissed off underling to deal with."

"Yeah I should" Ruthie replies "but I'll put it off for now." And they were off on another topic.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Thursday morning found Ruthie and Nif dashing around Ruthie's apartment in an attempt to get everything done before Doug's family arrived and 'paperwork' got in the way. Ruthie remembered Gary always talking about how crazy things were at holidays, and now she believed him. There were six things in the paper, although four of them could be handled by phone, leaving a car crash and a missing child to be dealt with directly. The two friends took turns handling the phone saves while the apartment was being readied for guests. They figured that Nif would take care of the car crash, because it occurred after Doug's parents were supposed to arrive, Ruthie would handle the missing child later in the day.

Just as they had that worked out, Janet arrived. Nif had been a little hesitant about asking the reporter over for Thanksgiving, but when Ruthie pointed out the Janet literally had no one to spend the holiday with, Nif had relented. The three of them were bustling about the kitchen and the patio; the turkey was being grilled so that there would be plenty of room in the oven, when the doorbell rang. Ruthie left to get it, but very soon both Nif and Janet heard her outraged voice ask "what the heck are you doing here" followed by "you're telling me that he's your father". The two not quite friends exchanged looks that said 'this is gonna be fun' and did their best to act as though they hadn't heard a thing. They were soon joined by Doug's mother Catherine, who looked as though she would rather be anywhere else at the moment. After the opening rounds of greetings the three of them tried to concentrate on fixing the meal while the explosions periodically went off in the living room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ruthie simply couldn't believe it; the officious idiot that she had chewed out the day before turned out to be the father of her boyfriend, sometimes her life sucked beyond all belief. Both she and Mr. Howser had been pretty vocal in their views on the other, but with Doug playing referee everything quieted down relatively quickly and a truce was reached. It was a truce based on the fact that they both cared for the same person, they agreed to try to put the past in the past and at least be civil to each other for Doug's sake. Ruthie honestly believed that she and David Howser would rarely see eye to eye because of the completely different ways that they saw the world and approached life, but she was willing to at least try and Mr. Howser seemed to be of the same opinion.

Having reached an accord, she checked her watch and saw that it was time for Nif to run her 'errand'. Sticking her head in the kitchen she said "Nif, did you remember those little marshmallows for the sweet potatos"?

Hearing the code phrase that they had worked out earlier, Jennifer looked at the clock and then at Ruthie and sighed theatrically "no, but I've got time to pick some up".

"Where" Janet asked "isn't everything closed on Thanksgiving"?

"There's a little place over on Halstead" Nif replied as she picked up her car keys "it's run by Korean's or Vietnamese or something like that. Anyway, they're always open on holidays". And with that she was out the door and on her way.

Ruthie took over in the kitchen and had soon fallen into a good rapport with Catherine. It was funny, Ruthie thought, how different the older Howser's were, and yet they had stayed married for so long. It was this conversation more so that her desire to appease Doug that convinced her that maybe she had been a bit too hasty in her judgment of David Howser.

Dinner was pretty close to being done when there was a knock at the door. Ruthie heard the door open and then Doug exclaim "what happened to you"? Everyone bolted out of the kitchen to see just what he was talking about when they saw an amazing sight in the hallway; it was the Abominable Mud Woman, or at least that's what it appeared to be. Actually it was Jennifer. She had stopped the car accident only to be completely doused as a semi hit a rather nasty puddle right next to where she was walking. Wordlessly she walked into Ruthie's apartment, handed her young friend the bag of marshmallows and kept right on going towards the back bedroom and the shower that was there. She had endured quite a few odd looks on her way back to Ruthie's apartment, so the eruption of laughter that came as soon as she left the living room didn't phase her much at all. She emerged about 10 minutes later, and in a much better mood than when she had gone in. When she really thought about it, helping Ruthie save people; either directly or as part of the support system, was the best thing she had ever done in her life. There were times when she wondered what her life would have been like if the mugging hadn't occurred, but she tried not to dwell on it. Sure there were times when she felt a little taken for granted, but objectively she knew that Ruthie led a very full life. She dried off and put on a change of clothes, she knew Ruthie wouldn't mind, heck some of these were hers after all. As she eased back out into the main room it was clear that there was some sort of truce or at least World War III had been postponed because everyone was being quiet and polite; and surprisingly little of it came across as false. Well, Jennifer thought, at least it's a step in the right direction.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The dinner progressed well with good food and non-controversial topics of conversation, or it did until Mr. Howser decided to change the subject. "Do you find it difficult Ms. Camden?"

"Do I find what difficult?"

Being an artist yourself while having the same name as a rather noted artist. I imagine that some people would accuse you of cashing in on the name."

Silence reigned around the table for a moment, until both Janet and Nif broke up laughing at the nonplussed expression on Ruthie's face. Mr. and Mrs. Howser looked confused and Doug just looked embarrassed. Finally, the laughter died down a bit and Doug bravely jumped into the breach before Mt. St. Ruthie erupted. "Dad, there's only one artist named Ruth Camden and you're sitting with her."

Dr. Howser looked incredulous "you painted 'Sorrow' that's hanging in the Guggenheim and 'Joy' and 'Fear' at the National Gallery?"

"Yes sir, I did" Ruthie replied with as much dignity as possible, which wasn't much considering the way her two friends were still laughing.

"I love those" Dr. Howser gushed "I've even got a copy of 'Joy' on the wall of my office, it's magnificent."

"Thank you" Ruthie replied with a bit of a blush.

Leaning forward on the table, dinner forgotten Dr. Howser asked "So how did you come up with the idea of painting feelings and emotions?"

With that question Ruthie launched into the story of how 'Sorrow' came into being, the reactions and the paintings that followed it. Pretty soon it was just Dr. Howser and Ruthie sitting at the table discussing art and influences; everyone else had retreated to the living room to watch the first of many showings of 'It's a Wonderful Life'. During a commercial break, Nif noticed the time and realized that Camden needed to be heading out to make the night save. She walked back into the dining room where the two motormouths were still jabbering away "Hey Camden, you still need to make that delivery."

Ruthie looked at her friend then glanced at the clock and then back to her friend "thanks Nif, I kinda lost track of the time there."

Nif replied "no problemo" at the same time Mr. Howser asked "what kind of delivery"?

"Someone ordered a print and paid for it to be delivered as soon as it came in and it came in late yesterday."

"So you're going out today?"

"It's what they wanted, so I'm going."

"Would you mind some company?"

Ruthie regarded the older man for a second, then came to the conclusion that saying 'no' would be riskier than letting him come along; "sure, the more the merrier."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The two of them left in Ruthie's SUV and headed for the suburbs on the south side, the article concealed in a cup holder in the door. The conversation had shifted from art to music, and how it influenced Ruthie's art. Not surprisingly, Dr. Howser was way more into classical than Ruthie was, but they both agreed on the best type of Blues, both being fans of the post-war Chicago style. They were soon near where they needed to be and Ruthie needed to start acting lost, she hoped that her limited theatrical experience would help. She saw Dr. Howser give her an odd looked when she intentionally turned the wrong way, but he kept any comments to himself. Soon she saw who she had come for, a little girl with a pink backpack and carrying a bear almost as big as she was; Ruthie glanced at the doctor saying "maybe a local can help us figure out where we should be". Rolling down her window she called out "can you give us a hand"?

The little girl stopped and looked at Ruthie, eyes suspicious "what do you want" she finally said.

"Do you know the Miller's; they live on" she glanced at a piece of paper in her hand "Aspen lane".

"Yes, I know them" the girl called back.

"Could you tell us how to get there" Ruthie asked with a sheepish grin "we're a little lost". Ruthie could see the girl's face working; desperately trying to hold something in, then suddenly she burst into tears. As quick as Ruthie was, she heard the 'Chunk' of the passenger door closing before she even got hers open. By the time she was out of her SUV, Dr. Howser was already leading the girl back to the vehicle and making comforting sounds to the crying child. With the situation completely out of her control, Ruthie did the only thing she could and got back in and watched a master at work. And that's what Dr. Howser the elder was, a master. Ruthie didn't know if it was the years of bedside manner or what, all she knew was that he had the girl in the car and settling down in the time it would have taken her to just calm the kid down enough to listen. So Ruthie decided to just sit in the front seat and keep her mouth shut and try to learn something.

Learn she did. Dr. Howser's whole being seemed to radiate caring and calm, two things she never would have associated with the guy that berated her in the ER. In the back seat the girl was calm coherent and even giggling at times. Soon the Doctor had learned all of the stuff that Ruthie knew but couldn't let on that she knew, like the girl's name, address and what she was doing out there in the first place. Once she had been given rudimentary directions from the kid she put the vehicle in gear and started off towards the child's home.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When they got there, Ruthie let Dr. Howser deal with the girl's family while she delivered her 'order' to the house next door. She was sitting there, waiting for him when he got back in the car. She pulled out and there was quiet for about two minutes "so how did you know"?

"Know what?"

"Please Miss Camden, I'm many things but an idiot isn't one of them. This whole little excursion was just a one act play to make saving that little girl seem plausible. I assume that my coming with you wasn't figured in to the scenario, so you had to improvise, and I must say you did a fine job, but it is also clear that this whole 'errand' was a phony as a three dollar bill. So I ask again, how did you know?"

Ruthie looked over at Dr. Howser, trying to determine whether or not she should lay the whole thing out for him "I doubt you'd believe me."

"Try me."

"It's the paper."

"The paper, what about it?"

"It isn't today's paper, its tomorrow's paper."

"I don't . . . . . . ." David Howser's voice drifted off as he started to consider the implications of what Ruth had just told him. If this was true then she had access to all kinds of information, information that she wasn't using.

"Then why aren't you rich? If what you say is true then you could play the stock market flawlessly or make a fortune gambling on sports; isn't that right?"

"Yeah, I could do that, but that would violate the spirit of the gift if you know what I mean." And she went on to explain what she knew about the paper and tell the cautionary tale of Joey Clams. "There aren't any hard and fast rules, but it just seems wrong to me to use the paper like that."

"Wait a moment, are you saying that others get paper's like this as well?"

"Yeah, I've met a few and heard of a couple others, I don't know how many total there are but I know that it's more than just me."

David Howser had seen some extraordinary things in his life, in his life he'd also been lied to by some of the best in the business; the two things that he was currently sure of was that the young woman was telling the truth and it was the most remarkable thing he'd ever heard. "So why you?"

"No idea, I stopped here on a whim on my way home from college and it was outside my hotel room door the next morning, and it's shown up every day since."

"So you were familiar with this before it showed up on your doorstep?"

"Yeah, my boss back in Chicago got the paper, he let me help out now and again."

"Remarkable" David Howser said again and sat back in his seat.

Ruthie let him think for a moment then chimed up "listen Doc, I get that you're all geeked about it and everything, but I gotta ask you to keep this to yourself, or just tell your wife at the most. If knowledge about this ever got out it'd ruin the whole set up. I don't want people trying to figure out who gets it and who doesn't or trying to steal my paper so they can get rich; I need your word that this stays between us."

"Of course" he agreed immediately "I may tell Catherine but that would be it."

"Thanks Doc, you know I gotta say you're takin' this a lot better that I'd have expected."

"Well, to be honest I've seen a few things that make me a bit more open minded, that and I'm still in a bit of a state of shock over the whole knowing the future aspect of things."

"Seen a few things, huh; care to share?"

David Howser thought for a moment then turned a sheepish gaze to Ruthie "I would but they're not my secrets to tell."

"I understand, so how about a little 'thank you' for keeping quiet."

"What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Well a gallery in LA is gonna put a show on called 'The Many Moods of Ruth Camden'; they're gonna bring in 'Joy', 'Sorrow' and 'Fear' as well as seven others that I've done but have never been on public display. They're all in my gallery right now if you'd like a preview."

"You mean I'd get to see seven originals that very few others have ever seen, even critics?"

"Even critics" Ruthie replied with a grin.

"Now how could I say no to that" David Howser said.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Doogie, could I talk to you for a second" Catherine asked.

"Sure Mom" Doug replied and slowly got up off the couch. He had been expecting this since his parents had arrived, but he'd really been expecting his father to deliver the 'are you sure about this' speech, not his mom. Sighing in exasperation, he followed his mother into the kitchen. "OK Mom, what's on your mind" as if I couldn't guess, he added silently.

"Are you sure about this?"

"You mean about Ruthie?"

"Of course"

"Sure Mom, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well it's just that . . . . . ." Catherine's voice drifted off, not sure how she wanted to say what she needed to say.

"It's just what, Mom?"

"Well it's like you're not you any more."

"What?"

"Doogie, to me you're a completely different person than I remember."

"She just brought me out of a very dark place Mom, that's all. Come on, you remember what I was like after Vinnie . . . ." he paused getting himself under control "you saw what that did to me, it changed me fundamentally, but then Ruthie came along and suddenly I felt alive again. And now you want to say that she's not right for me."

"I'm not sure if that's what I'm saying, what I am saying is that it's disturbing to see your child behaving in ways that you've never seen before, doing things he's never done before and acting like a completely different person than the one you raised."

Doug paused for a moment or two, trying to figure out how to respond; finally he looked his mother in the eye. "After Vinnie was killed I just wanted to die, I even thought about just ending everything; bit I didn't. I continued to exist, not live just exist; until this amazing woman came into my life and reminded me of just what living meant. She brought me back to life Mom, in nearly every way that matters."

"Did she Doogie, or did she just create you out of the broken parts of your life. Answer me this" she said with a fierce glare "are you Doogie Howser, or are you simply Ruth Camden's version of Doogie Howser?"

"Mom, that's insane, I'm me, just me."

"Are you sure about that, because if you are then well and good; but if you're not then you need to re-discover who you truly are not just sit back and enjoy a happy but incomplete version of yourself." And with that she walked back into the living room; leaving Doug standing in the dark and thinking.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When his Dad and Ruthie got back from her 'errand' it was clear that they were really hitting it off. There were enthusiastic greetings all around and she climbed into the easy chair next to him and snuggled down to watch whatever special was on TV, Catherine watched this with a frown. When the special was over both Nif and Janet left and not too long after that the Howser's decided to head back to Doug's place. She gave Doug a chaste kiss goodnight and hugged Dr. Howser; Catherine however, had been giving Ruthie the 'fish eye' ever since she got back and barely seemed to tolerate the quick hug that she got from Ruthie. They all made plans to meet the next day and left Ruthie alone with Quark. Ruthie quickly got ready and then dropped exhaustedly into bed knowing that she'd passed some tests, failed others and that in some cases the jury was still out.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was clear as they headed back to his apartment that Doug's parents were split on the subject of their son's girlfriend. What was most surprising to Doug was the fact that his Mom didn't like her and his Dad did; Doug would have bet anything that their positions would have been reversed. When they arrived Doug quickly said goodnight and went to bed, but he spent most of a restless night thinking about what his mother had said.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I take it that you have a problem with young Miss Camden?"

"Yes David, I do."

"And it is . . . . . ."

"I'm not sure, there's just something about her that bugs me. Somehow I've convinced myself that she's using Doogie and I can't seem to get past that. One thing I'm sure of is that she's hiding something, something major."

"That's true, she is; but she's not hiding it from us or Douglas."

"So what is it?"

"Well sit down, this might take a while" and Dr. Howser told her the tale of tomorrow's newspaper and what she did because of it. Somehow the knowledge didn't help Catherine feel any better, or change her mind one bit.


End file.
